Apple's First 3nm Chips for MacBook Pro Expected to Enter Production This Year

Another report today claims that TSMC plans to begin volume production of 3nm chips later this year for use in upcoming MacBook models and other products.

"Backend firms are upbeat about demand for the upcoming MacBook chips, which will be built using TSMC's 3nm process technology, with production set to kick off later this year, according to industry sources," reads a paywalled preview of a DigiTimes report.

TSMC is unlikely to generate substantial revenue from 3nm chip production overall until at least the first quarter of 2023, according to DigiTimes.

This information lines up with a report last week from Taiwan's Commercial Times, which said TSMC would begin production of 3nm chips for Apple by the end of 2022. That report claimed that Apple's first 3nm chip may be the M2 Pro chip for Macs and added that the A17 Bionic chip in next year's iPhone 15 Pro models would also be a 3nm chip.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the M2 Pro chip to be used in the next 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, and in a new high-end Mac mini that would replace the current Intel-based configuration. Gurman believes that Apple plans to announce multiple new Macs at an October event, but it's not entirely clear if this would include new MacBook Pro and Mac mini models or if Apple will wait to announce its first Macs with 3nm chips in 2023.

The entire M1 series of chips and the standard M2 chip are built on a variation of TSMC's 5nm process. Apple's transition to 3nm chips would unsurprisingly result in improved performance and power efficiency in upcoming Macs and iPhones, as Apple seeks to preserve its performance-per-watt lead over competitors like Intel.