Over the last few weeks, there has been some buzz surrounding the alleged A17 Bionic performance figures. Unfortunately, it appears that these numbers were fabricated and not genuine. However, the rumour mill has churned out another piece of information, which is Apple may be facing production difficulties with its 3nm chip due to issues with TSMC, its most lucrative client. Although Apple is the only customer for TSMC’s 3nm chip, Twitter user Revegnus has suggested that the manufacturer is still struggling with production. In an earlier tweet, he shared rumoured benchmark scores for the chipset that will be used exclusively in the iPhone 15 Pro lineup. However, he has since retracted these claims following recent developments.
Revegnus has affirmed that TSMC’s 3nm yield goal has dropped, which could limit the supply of the A17 Bionic if these problems are not resolved. This news is surprising, considering that an earlier report had suggested that TSMC was performing significantly better than Samsung, with an impressive yield rate of 80 percent. There might be a possibility that the A17 Bionic that Apple wanted to produce on the 3nm process was not successful in terms of power consumption and heat generation. As a result, the performance target may have dropped. However, if Apple has encountered an insurmountable obstacle with this chip, it is possible that the M3 SoC meant for future Macs may also face similar setbacks.
In such a case, the tech giant may have to sacrifice performance for the A17 Bionic and M3 chips, focusing instead on energy efficiency. During TSMC’s official announcement of its 3nm plant, the company’s chairman did not mention any significant performance gains. Instead, he highlighted that 3nm chips would exhibit up to 35 percent improved power savings at the same speeds, which might be Apple’s ultimate goal when it comes to imminent chips. However, It is important to note that there are conflicting rumours, so readers should take Revegnus’ tweets with a grain of salt. TSMC is expected to commence mass production shortly after the second half of 2023, and at that time, more information about the estimated performance numbers for the A17 Bionic and M3 will likely be available.
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(Via)
