TSMC’s 3nm process sells for sky-high prices, Apple needs it for A17

According to MacRumors, Qualcomm and MediaTek have not yet determined whether they will launch 3nm chips in 2023. Apple may be the only chip factory to use TSMC's 3nm process in 2023.

Sources pointed out that the reason why Qualcomm and MediaTek hesitate to use TSMC’s 3nm is that the cost is extremely high. Starting from the 10nm process, TSMC's sales price per wafer began to increase exponentially. When TSMC launched the 7nm process in 2018, the wafer price jumped to nearly US$10,000. In 2020, the price of 5nm wafer exceeded US$16,000.

By 3nm, the sales price of each wafer exceeded US$20,000, which is still the benchmark price. If the manufacturer's order volume does not meet TSMC's requirements, prices will rise sharply. This is one of the important reasons why Qualcomm and MediaTek hesitate to use TSMC's 3nm.

Compared with 5nm, TSMC's 3nm process has better performance and power consumption. Its logic density will increase by 60% and power consumption will be reduced by 30-35% at the same speed. Moreover, the SRAM cache of the 3nm process has a higher transistor density than 5nm. 5%.

The A17 bionic chip that Apple will release in the second half of the year will use TSMC’s 3nm process. According to Apple’s differentiation strategy, the A17 bionic chip will only be used in high-end models such as iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra. The standard and Plus versions use A16 chip.