Taiwan-based independent journalist Tim Culpan revealed that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company’s plant in Arizona has produced the first batch of Apple A16 chips using the 4 nm process used to make the same chips at TSMC’s Taiwan factories.
The volume of the new A16 chips, first introduced with iPhone 14 Pro in 2022, will “ramp up considerably when the second stage of the Phase 1 fab is completed and production is underway, putting the Arizona project on track to hit its target for production in the first half of 2025,” Culpan said, citing sources familiar with the situation.
In our view, it is notable that Apple has enough confidence in TSMC’s new Arizona chip factory that it’s willing to bet on new advanced mobile processors being built in America for the first time rather than building less critical components.
TSMC spokeswoman Nina Kao confirmed to Culpan, “The Arizona project is proceeding as planned with good progress.”
Kao did not comment on specifics about clients or chips at the US-based factory in the southwestern part of the US.
It’s unclear what Apple devices the new Arizona-made A16 chips will be installed in. This could be the latest iPad model or the next-generation iPhone SE.
“I can’t tell you which Apple device these A16 chips will go into. One possibility is that they’re slated for one of the upcoming iPads, though perhaps not the iPad Mini since Mark Gurman believes they’re to be launched around October. Another likelihood is the next iteration of the iPhone SE, which makes sense since it’s supposedly based on the iPhone 14 which uses the A16 processor and is expected next year,” Culpan said.
He noted that the development is great news for made-in-America chips as the Biden administration plows tens of billions of taxpayer funds into CHIPs to rebuild the nation’s chip manufacturing industry.
“This is a BFD. TSMC Arizona is the marquee project of the US government’s $39 billion CHIPS for America Fund under the CHIPS Act. Six months ago, I thought Apple might tap Arizona for a less-consequential chip like the H-series used in AirPods. I was surprised when I heard it was the A16. The fact that they went for the most-advanced chip they could manage on US soil, in terms of both technology and volume, shows Apple and TSMC want to start big,” he said.
After the chips are manufactured in Arizona, they’ll likely be sent to Foxconn factories in China or India, where low-cost labor will be used to assemble iPhones or iPads.
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