A new report claims that the 3nm process expected to be used in building Apple's A17 processor for the iPhone 15 Pro and future M3 Macs is surpassing expectations in testing, suggesting they could be even faster than we first hoped.
The news comes from a paywalled DigiTimes report seen by Wccftech which seems to suggest that "TSMC's 3nm node performance is better than expected."
Wccftech report that "based on initial reports, the performance of the new node is said to be exceeding expectations" which "will allow TSMC to retain its dominant position in process node technology."
iPhone 15 Pro A17
We first heard last year that both the iPhone 15 Pro and future M3-powered Macs were set to benefit from TSMC's new 3nm manufacturing process. It was reported in September, shortly after Apple unveiled its best iPhone to date, the iPhone 14 Pro, that Apple was seeking to be the first company to use 3nm technology in its processors for the iPhone 15 Pro and Macs.
Processors made using 3nm technology, instead of 5nm currently used in the iPhone, have a 70% logic density increase. According to TSMC, this would have offered speed boosts of up to 15% using the same amount of power, or up to 30% power reduction at the same speeds as 5nm. This means the iPhone 15 Pro's A17 chip will be much faster than the current one, but also more power efficient. That means faster loading times for apps, better computational photography, and longer battery life.
However, it seems 3nm could actually offer even more benefits than we first thought, making the iPhone 15 Pro an even more exciting upgrade prospect. The iPhone 15 is expected to receive the A16 chip from the iPhone 14 Pro when it is announced in September of this year. Also likely to benefit are future Macs powered by the next generation of Apple silicon in the M3 chip. These upgrades are likely a bit further away, however, with Apple still rolling out its M2 Pro and Max upgrades to devices like the new MacBook Pro.
