Apple may have turned the fortunes of its upcoming M3 line of chips after reportedly getting a full year’s worth of scarce 3nm silicon from TSMC.
It appears that Apple has managed to secure TSMC’s entire supply of 3nm chips for an entire year, according to WCftech, who reports that these 3nm chipsets “will be found in a variety of devices, starting with the A17 Bionic for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, followed by the M3.” Apple M3 chip production spans the entire M3 family, including the M3 Pro, M3 Max, and M3 Ultra chips for high-end Mac devices and Mac Studio and Mac Pro models.
Earlier rumors claimed that Apple had locked down about 90% of TSMC’s 3nm capacity, which still left some room for competitors to secure remaining stock, but it looks like the competition will have to wait. Not to mention the tech giant won’t have to pay for faulty wafers, which could save it billions of dollars.
TSMC has a few versions of its 3nm tech, with Apple getting the N3B batch, while other companies like Qualcomm and MediaTek will most likely pick up N3E. This means that while Apple may have a time advantage over its competitors, it could just as easily lose it.
M3 MacBook could come, but would it?
If this rumor turns out to be true, Apple could release M3 MacBooks as early as late 2023 or early 2024. new Z1 series processors delayed due to production issues, and Intel reportedly canceled two new projects with TSMC.
Of course, it’s only part of the puzzle that Apple manages to acquire a year’s worth of 3nm shipments. Calculate sales as a whole are in decline also because of the global economic downturn staff shortagesand Apple is one of many technology manufacturers struggling in this current market trend.
So while this rumor could be great news for Apple, it could also prevent M3-based iPhones and Mac products from selling well in the future, especially considering how many devices the company has released in recent years. For example, I hope that anything equipped with an M3 chip will come out at the end of 2024, if only because of the breathing space.