Apple's secret meeting with TSMC could be a move to lock down chipmaker's 2nm tech

[zohaibahd]

TL;DR: Apple COO Jeff Williams reportedly made a discreet visit to TSMC's facilities recently to discuss securing the company's cutting-edge 2nm manufacturing capacity for Apple's future AI chips.

TSMC is Apple's exclusive supplier for its powerful A-series and M-series processors, which are found in iPhones, iPads, and Macs. The Taiwanese chipmaker has maintained a solid lead over rivals in developing ever-smaller and more advanced chip fabrication processes.

According to the Taiwanese publication Economic Daily News, Williams' under-the-radar meeting with TSMC's President C.C. Wei was to finalize a deal reserving the initial 2nm production for Apple. This seems plausible, given it mirrors Apple's previous moves to secure the entirety of TSMC's 3nm capacity for chips like the A17 Bionic in the iPhone 15 Pro and the M3 silicon powering the latest Macs.

By securing manufacturing capacity before rivals, Apple ensures ample supply to meet the demand for its own products while denying competitors early access to TSMC's latest processes. This strategy gives Apple's in-house chips a performance edge over Android devices and Windows PCs using slightly older fabrication nodes.

The potential 2nm deal takes on added significance with Apple's increasing focus on AI. As previously revealed by Apple CFO Luca Maestri, the company has invested over $100 billion in generative AI R&D over the past five years. Apple is also expanding its own data centers to handle complex AI workloads.

Rumors indicate that iOS 18, expected to be unveiled at WWDC in June, will integrate advanced AI capabilities similar to Android's recent Gemini Nano rollout. One of the most significant upgrades potentially includes a more powerful version of Siri, enhanced by ChatGPT.

To power these AI features, Apple is reportedly developing dedicated "AI chips" for its data center servers, tasked with handling the heavy computing required for large language models and other resource-intensive AI tasks.

These server-grade processors would handle the heavy lifting for Apple's cloud AI services, complementing the on-device capabilities of future iPhones and iPads. Securing TSMC's initial 2nm capacity could give Apple a critical performance and efficiency advantage over rivals relying on older process nodes.

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Apple's secret meeting with TSMC could be a move to lock down chipmaker's 2nm tech

 

[human7]

Anti-trust?

 

[yRaz]

Anti-trust?

The only problem I see with that is that the only person Apple would be competing with itself is Apple. Their M series chips, as powerful as they are, aren't going to poach many people from the PC side. Their eco system is so locked down that the people who care about speed and specs can't do their type of work on a Mac but Apple would still need to deal with their overpriced and underspec'd problem. People buying $300 laptops to watch YouTube and browse the internet aren't going to switch to a $1000 MacBook Air just because their chips are faster.


Maybe they know that Microsoft is killing windows in search of short term gains that they'll eventually make OSX appealing to people who would have to switch eco systems?

This is a weird one for sure.

 

[human7]

The only problem I see with that is that the only person Apple would be competing with itself is Apple. Their M series chips, as powerful as they are, aren't going to poach many people from the PC side. Their eco system is so locked down that the people who care about speed and specs can't do their type of work on a Mac but Apple would still need to deal with their overpriced and underspec'd problem. People buying $300 laptops to watch YouTube and browse the internet aren't going to switch to a $1000 MacBook Air just because their chips are faster.


Maybe they know that Microsoft is killing windows in search of short term gains that they'll eventually make OSX appealing to people who would have to switch eco systems?

This is a weird one for sure.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't Apple be competing with Samsung or anyone else out there developing smartphones with this process node, and I assume TSMC's process node can work for x86 CPUs (so AMD) as well? If so, it sounds to me like collusion to keep competitors from making other CPUs.

We know that when the M1 first came out, all the reviewers praised it for its power consumption and performance, but a few reviewers also called out that the comparison was unfair as the M1 was on a newer process node. That seems like the kind of situation that could be used to make a case.

Either way, I doubt the case would get anywhere since we're talking about many international laws and relations being thrown in the mix.

 

[m4a4]

Gatekeep? Apple? Nooooooooo...

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

Battle of the Corporates as usual. A race to first place and the better deal gets the package.

I am guessing, but once TSMC begins operation in the U.S. don't they have to now follow U.S. regulations?

So if Apple secures a deal with TSMC outside the U.S. before TSMC opens in Arizona, will Apple's deal with TSMC remain the same? Just guessing of course.

 

[Burty117]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't Apple be competing with Samsung or anyone else out there developing smartphones with this process node, and I assume TSMC's process node can work for x86 CPUs (so AMD) as well? If so, it sounds to me like collusion to keep competitors from making other CPUs.

Samsung are also a direct competitor to TSMC, that is, they produce their own silicon, so I doubt this affects Samsung either.

Technically this does affect AMD and Nvidia but they both could go to Samsung if they really wanted to, thing is, TSMC is still ahead of Samsung, and Intel foundries is miles behind.

I guess probably the most affected is Qualcomm, since they produce chips directly in competition with the A series from Apple and soon-to-be laptop grade CPU’s as well.

 

[HardReset]

We know that when the M1 first came out, all the reviewers praised it for its power consumption and performance, but a few reviewers also called out that the comparison was unfair as the M1 was on a newer process node. That seems like the kind of situation that could be used to make a case.

Reviewers "forgot" that memory wise M1 is SOC, not CPU. Therefore any comparisons about performance and/or power consumption also should have been vs something else than CPU. As seen there and many times before, Apple makes people stupid.