A16 Bionic will be manufactured using TSMC’s 4nm process
Earlier reports have pointed out that the A16 Bionic on the iPhone 14 series may not be able to wait for TSMC’s 3nm process mass production. At present, the A15 Bionic used in the iPhone 13 series is still based on the TSMC 5nm process, but the process has been enhanced. Compared with the A14 Bionic, which also uses the 5nm process, the overall performance improvement is limited.
Since it is impossible to jump to the next process node, and still stay at the N5 process node, Apple’s new generation of A-series chips will still be optimized in the process. According to Wccftech reports, Apple is likely to adopt the N4 process in A16 Bionic. TSMC’s N4 process is optimized based on the existing N5 process, which can provide more PPA (power, performance, area) advantages, but maintain the same design rules, design infrastructure, SPICE simulation program, and IP. As the use of EUV lithography tools and equipment is further expanded in the N4 process, the number of masks, process steps, risks, and costs can also be reduced.
Although Apple has placed an order for the N3 process with TSMC early on, it has priority in the allocation of production capacity, but if TSMC’s mass production schedule is really unable to catch up, the two parties need to study other countermeasures. At present, there is still about a year or so from the launch of the iPhone 14 series. There are still variables. However, it seems that the A16 Bionic made by 4nm process is a more reasonable solution.
Some time ago, TSMC announced the launch of the N4P process. As the third major improvement of the N5 process node, the performance is 11% higher than the earliest N5 process and 6% higher than the N4 process. Compared with the N5 process, there is a 22% increase in energy efficiency and a 6% increase in transistor density. Perhaps Apple can consider this solution, the feasibility should be higher.
