Apple’s 2026 iPhone lineup might be heading for a price bump, thanks to rising chip costs that could hit the company’s bottom line—and your wallet. A new report out of Taiwan suggests that Apple’s upcoming A20 processor, built on TSMC’s cutting-edge 2nm process, will be significantly more expensive to produce than current chips.

According to China Times, TSMC plans to raise prices for its 2nm wafers by as much as 50% compared to the 3nm N3P process used for the iPhone 17‘s A19 chip. Notably, the N3P node came with a noticeable cost jump over the A18 used in the iPhone 16. Apple managed to keep retail prices steady last year by absorbing those costs—but that might not be possible this time around.

Analysts warn that if Apple doesn’t find ways to offset the added expense, the base iPhone 18 could start $50–$100 higher than the iPhone 17, potentially crossing the $849 mark in the US.

This pricing pressure isn’t unique to Apple, though. The same process node will be used to fabricate upcoming Qualcomm and MediaTek flagships that will power almost all Android phones on the market.

To complicate matters, reports suggest Apple could shake up its release schedule in 2026. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are expected to arrive in the usual fall window, while the standard iPhone 18 might slip into early 2027, launching alongside a rumored iPhone 18e—a more affordable model that could replace the current SE line. This staggered rollout could help Apple manage production costs and give its long-rumored iPhone Fold room to shine.

The shift to 2nm will hopefully bring major efficiency gains and set a new performance standard for mobile chips, but it also highlights a growing challenge: how to keep prices in check as manufacturing becomes increasingly complex. With competitors like Oppo and Xiaomi offering high-end phones for hundreds less, Apple and Samsung will have to justify every dollar of their premium pricing.

If the rumors hold true, 2026’s iPhone lineup could mark a turning point—not just for Apple’s design and performance, but for how far consumers are willing to stretch for the latest tech.

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When we think of the most important companies in the tech world, names like Apple and Samsung come to mind. However, TSMC is just as important, even if it’s not as visible. The company produces chips for many of the products we use today, from cars to smartphones, and serves as the backbone of the tech world.

Moreover, the Taiwanese manufacturer has no intention of resting on its “back”, is constantly innovating. For example, the company recently started working on a more advanced version of its 3nm process. Now, has also opened its new “Global Research and Development Center”. Here are the details…

New TSMC Center to Focus on 2nm and 1.4nm Technology

TSMC has opened its new global R&D center on July 28th. The center, which is located in Hsinchu, Taiwan, will focus on the development of 2nm and more advanced process technologies. The president of TSMC, Dr. C. C., said at the opening that this new center shows how dedicated TSMC is to staying in Taiwan. He also mentioned that the center will help the company keep leading in the worldwide chip-making industry.

TSMC Chairman Mark Liu echoed Wei’s comments, saying that the new center will help TSMC to “actively develop technologies leading the global semiconductor industry.” He also said that the center will explore fields such as 2nm, 1.4nm, and even more advanced new materials and transistor structures.

The cost to the company for the stunning facility is US$3.3 billion to build and equip. However, TSMC believes that this investment will pay off in the long run. The worldwide semiconductor industry is always changing. To keep up with these changes, TSMC needs to invest in research and development. This facility is also very important for Taiwan because it will employ more than 7,000 people.

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(via/source)

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) on Thursday commenced its 2022 TSMC Technology Symposium, where the company released its chip development timeline as well as its future plans. The timeline reveals that the Taiwan-based chipmaker will introduce its leading-edge 3nm (N3) chips in the second half of this year and will also unveil the 2nm technology sometime in 2025. The new technologies will be used to make advanced CPUs, GPUs, and SoCs.

The 3nm nodes will come in a total of five 3 nm-class nodes, dubbed N3E, N3P, N3S, and N3X. These N3 variants are claimed to offer improved process windows, higher performance, increased transistor densities, and augmented voltages for ultra-high-performance applications. All these technologies will feature the TSMC’s proprietary FINFLEX architectural innovation that offers great flexibility to chip designers and allows them to precisely optimize performance, power consumption, and costs of Chips.

As AnandTech rightly points out, N3 is made for developed for brands like Apple which could take advantage of the increase in the performance, power, and area (PPA) delivered by leading-edge nodes.

If we talk about the 2nm technology, It will offer a remarkable improvement over the N3, with a 10-15% speed increase at the same power, or a 25-30% power reduction at the same speed, unleashing new standards of Efficient Performance.

N2 will come with the GAAFETs (gate-all-around field-effect transistors) to deliver a full-node improvement in performance and power efficiency. The N2 technology platform will feature a high-performance variant in addition to the mobile compute baseline version and comprehensive chipset integration solutions.

The first N3 chips are expected to enter into production in the coming months and will arrive on the market in Q1 2023. N2 is scheduled to begin production in 2025.

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TSMC has apparently made another major breakthrough in its research and development process. This time the world’s largest contract chipmaker has made strides in the development of its 2nm architecture that will be seen in processors in the near future.

According to a PatentlyApple report, sources from its supply chain have revealed that the upcoming 2nm process will adopt a new multi-bridge channel field-effect transistor (MBCFET) architecture unlike the fin-type field-effect transistor (FinFET) architecture used in the 3nm and 5nm processes. This development also marks TSMC making another progress far ahead of its competition at the moment, like Samsung.

A TSMC official also stated to a publication that “We are optimistic that the yield rate of risk trial production in the second half of 2023 will reach 90%, which will help us continue to win large orders from major manufacturers such as Apple and Huida in the future.” Furthermore, the company plans on reaching mass production capabilities sometime in 2024.

Editor’s Pick: Samsung Galaxy S20 FE vs OnePlus 8 vs Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro: Specs Comparison

Back in 2019, TSMC had dedicated an R&D team to find a feasible path for the development of the 2nm process. This team had to consider costs, equipment compatibility, technology maturity and performance, and other conditions as well. Notably, 2nm architecture adopts the MBCFET based on the surround gate (GAA) process, which solves the physical limitations of current control leakage caused by the FinFET process.

While the chipmaker is already working on 2nm processors for 2024, it has also begun studies into the processes that lay beyond it. This includes the possibility of the 1nm process and other ventures in the near future. TSMC is also gearing up to expand its factory site in central Taiwan for the 2nm process, as per a DigiTimes report. This report also signifies the widening gap between the Taiwanese firm and its rival, Samsung.

UP NEXT: Qualcomm to soon launch Snapdragon 775G chipset manufactured using 6nm process

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The performance and efficiency of chipsets depend on the number of transistors they have. To accommodate more transistors on a chip, their size needs to be reduced. This is known as ‘Moore’s Law’, which states the number of transistors on microprocessors should double every two years by decreasing their size. The current-gen best processors are built-on 7nm process, which is expected to be replaced with 5nm later this year. However, even before that, TSMC has now revealed to have started R&D for 2nm chips.

In its recent annual report to shareholders, TSMC has announced that it has kick-started research and development for the 2nm process in 2019 itself. The semiconductor manufacturing company is yet to deliver Apple’s next-gen 5nm mobile chip slated to release in the last quarter of this year.

For context, the 2nm chips will be able to hold 3.5 times more transistors than the now best 7nm chipsets available in the market.

Additionally, it also revealed the roadmap for 3nm chips lask week, which is progressing as planned. The first batch of risk production is expected to begin in 2021, followed by volume production in the second half of 2022.

The only major competitor for TSMC is Samsung, however, it is yet to mass-manufacture 5nm chips and has even delayed 3nm chipsets to 2022 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Nevertheless, although TSMC has started working on 2nm chips, we won’t be able to see it anytime soon. The earliest we can expect it to be ready for the masses is 2025.

UP NEXT: Kirin 1020 & Apple A14 expected to lead TSMC’s 5nm mass production in H2 2020

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