The supplier TSMC cannot fulfill Apple’s request to produce the A17 Bionic and M3 chips engraved in 3 nm. That’s why Apple pays a special rate until production ramps up.
Apple has already secured 90% of TSMC’s 3nm engraved chipsets to assemble the A17 Bionic and M3 chips that will notably power the brand’s future devices iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max are expected this fall. Nevertheless, the production of the supplier TSMC does not yet achieve an optimal yield. So Apple pays a special rate at TSMC instead of the usual price.
iPhone 15 Pro Max rendering © @UniverseIce/Twitter
TSMC currently has a return of 55% for the production of the A17 Bionic and the M3 chip. This means that almost half of TSMC’s 3nm wafers are considered bad batches. Also remember that the wafer is a very thin wafer of monocrystalline semiconductor material. This is the basis for creating microstructures.
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Apple will pay TSMC up to $17,000 per wafer if yield hits 70%
With an efficiency of only 55%, TSMC only charges chips that have been fully tested and not the total number of wafers. However, according to Brett Simpson, chief analyst at Arete Research, Apple will soon be paying its usual price again the yield will reach 70%.
TSMC, which will increase its CoWoS packaging capacity to meet demand for NVIDIA GPUs, will then calculate the standard wafer price that can be achieved up to $17,000 per wafer. In its report, the EE Times estimates that this 70% yield will not be reached until the first half of 2024 at the earliest. Until then, Apple will continue to pay the special rate.
Anyway, Apple will launch the iPhone 15 in a few months. The high-end models, i.e. the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, will benefit from the A17 Bionic Chip. Apple is therefore planning Start mass production from August. The Cupertino-based company may not say whether TSMC’s profitability will improve by then, but the availability of premium iPhone models around the world will be a good indicator.
Source: EE Times