TSMC has simply introduced an all-new chip manufacturing course of referred to as “A16”
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple will transfer away from its present processor designs that hold the CPU and GPU cores on the identical chip — and see a efficiency achieve.
One of many causes for Apple Silicon‘s velocity over the earlier Intel processors has been that every M-series chip has been a single unit. This System-on-a-Chip (SoC) concept cuts bottlenecks by having all of the processor’s components collectively on one chip bundle.
In line with Kuo, nonetheless, Apple goes to alter this for the M5 Professional, M5 Max, and M5 Extremely. Solely the M5 will stay as a single unit.
As an alternative, the M5 Professional and different chips will use producer TSMC’s newest chip packaging course of. Known as the System-in-Built-in-Chips-Molding-Horizontal (SoIC-mH), it places collectively totally different chips into one bundle.
Apple M5 sequence chip
1. The M5 sequence chips will undertake TSMC’s superior N3P node, which entered the prototype part a number of months in the past. M5, M5 Professional/Max, and M5 Extremely mass manufacturing is anticipated in 1H25, 2H25, and 2026, respectively.
2. The M5 Professional, Max, and Extremely will make the most of https://t.co/XIWHx5B2Cy— (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) December 23, 2024
The benefit, based on Kuo, is that this may produce “server-grade” packaging. Apple “will use 2.5D packaging” that has “separate CPU and GPU designs,” and which can “enhance manufacturing yields and thermal efficiency.”
Kuo says that mass manufacturing is anticipated in 2H25 for the M5 Professional and the M5 Max, after which 2026 for the M5 Extremely. The M5 has reportedly been within the prototyping phrase for a number of months, and mass manufacturing is believed to be deliberate for 1H25.
That M5 processor can be produced by TSMC utilizing its N3P expertise, which is anticipated to be seen first within the iPhone 18 vary.
Kuo additionally claims that the M5 Professional processors can be utilized in Apple Intelligence servers. Particularly, will probably be utilized for the corporate’s Non-public Cloud Compute expertise.