In September this year, Apple launched the iPhone 15 Pro equipped with A17 Pro processor, this processor is generated using TSMC's 3nm process, which has a better performance and energy efficiency ratio compared to before, of course, Apple will definitely not stop there, they have begun to develop a new generation of processors, according to the latest news, TSMC has shown Apple their 2nm chip, which is expected to be mass-produced in 2025.
According to foreign media reports, Apple is likely to launch the iPhone 17 Pro in 2025 with a processor generated by TSMC's 2nm process. Apple is TSMC's largest customer, and now most of the processors for iPhones and Macs are produced by TSMC, and Apple has directly bought out TSMC's 3nm production capacity in 2023, allowing them to adopt more advanced processes ahead of any competitors, TSMC expects to mass-produce 2nm processes in 2025, when the iPhone 17 is the first device to use a new process processor. At present, TSMC's N3 node transistor density is 183MTR mm2, and TSMC also has four 3nm nodes, of which the N3E node transistor density that has just entered mass production has been increased to 2156MTR mm2, and the N3P that will be put into production after 2024 can be further increased to 224MTR mm2, and the transistor density of their first 2nm node N2 will be increased to 259MTR mm2, so it is very likely that Apple will choose to use the N3P process as a transition in 2024.
Of course, the above is all in an ideal situation, if nothing else, TSMC will be able to put into production on time according to the above schedule, but the new process may have various delays, which depends on whether TSMC can solve the various problems that the new process will face.