TSMC is kicking off the 3nm era, and the next MacBook Pro will benefit greatly from it.

After a long wait TSMC is ready to begin mass production of its new 3nm chips. In accordance with DigiTimes, production will be launched this Thursday, December 29, after a ceremony to be held at Factory 18 of the South Taiwan Science Park. The news is of particular interest to Apple, which will be a priority buyer of these new components. In fact, it is assumed that debuts on M2 Pro chip for future 14″ and 16″ MacBook Pros.

There has been talk for some time now about the possibility of switching the Apple Silicon processor family to 3nm chips. Something that feels closer than ever today, and it won’t just be reflected in future computers in the area. It’s that those from Cupertino too they will develop SoCs for the next generations of iPhones as part of the same process.and some are already buoyed by predictions that it could be the iPhone 15 coming in 2023.

As we said, the M2 Pro will be the first Apple chip to make the leap to 3 nanometers. The hardware is expected to debut in early 2023 in both the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro. as in the upcoming Mac Mini update. There have also been rumors about the possibility of the Californians releasing Mac Studio with said processor, though without further details. Let’s not forget that for now this equipment is only available with M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips.

At the moment, nothing is said about what will happen with the M2 Max and M2 Ultra processors. Although it is logical to think that they will also evolve towards the most modern chips from TSMC.

Apple looks forward to TSMC’s 3nm chips

If the truly new members of the Apple Silicon family are 3nm chips, then they are expected to make a significant leap. both performance and efficiency. As for specific components designed for Apple components, they can include up to 40 cores. This will be a very important leap over what was in previous chips. Something that is clearly visible on the 16-inch MacBook Pro. Its most powerful version includes the M1 Max with 10-core CPU and up to 32-core GPU.

Let TSMC start mass-producing its 3nm chips only now may explain the delay in the launch of new Apple products. Recall that this year Cupertino did not present the new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, which will appear in the first months of 2023. The transition from the M2 Pro to a new semiconductor fabrication process explains this delay. ; just like with the Mac Mini update.

As for the iPhone 15, the possibility that the A17 Bionic is three nanometers doesn’t seem far-fetched. However, there would be no lesser hurdle that Apple would have to overcome: its possible increase in value. The fact is that the production of wafers with 3-nanometer chips is much more expensive than using other technologies. And although the A16 Bionic is now being produced on a 4nm process, any changes in the bowels of the SoC involve spending a lot of money. Something that one way or another subsequently carries over into the final price that users have to face.

Either way, no matter how it happens, Apple’s eyes will be on do not repeat the mistakes A16 Bionic. Recall that the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max chips could have a more powerful GPU and support ray tracing. However, an engineering error caused it to consume much more power than expected, forcing the company to abandon the plan.