The technology behind the A17 Bionic chip before switching to reduce costs

According to a recent rumor, Apple plans to change the technology behind the A17 Bionic chip in order to bring the cost down next year.

The chip in the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will be fundamentally different from the version of the same processor due in 2024.

Technology change in A17 Bionic

The A17 Bionic chip is expected to be the first chip to be built using a 3nm manufacturing process, which brings significant improvements in performance and efficiency compared to the 5nm technology used for the A14, A15 and A16 chips.

The original version of the A17 Bionic chip is said to be produced using TSMC’s N3B process, but the California-based company plans to switch the processor to the N3E within the next year.

It is supposed to be a cost-cutting measure with the negative impact of poor efficiency.

production method

In cooperation with Apple, TSMC has established the N3B manufacturing process, which is more complex than the N3E. Compared to the N3B, the N3E is the simpler, more accessible node that most other TSMC chipsets will adopt. Lower EUV layer count and lower transistor density than N3B.

However, the process yields better performance and the N3B has been ready for mass production longer than the N3E, but at the cost of significantly lower production volumes. The N3B was designed effectively as a test node and is not compatible with TSMC’s later operations.

As a result, Apple will likely need to redesign its chips to take advantage of advances made by chip maker TSMC. The N3E version of the A17 Bionic chip could be for the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.

a Weibo user He is responsible for the rumor that he is an integrated circuit expert with 25 years of experience working on Intel Pentium processors.

Don’t miss any other news! Our app for iOS and Android with practical payment functionality.