Apple’s Secret Meeting with TSMC: Securing Production Capacity for 2nm Chips

A recent report by the Economic Daily News revealed a covert meeting between Apple’s COO, Jeff Williams, and TSMC’s President and Co-CEO, C.C. Wei. The focus of this meeting was Apple’s interest in reserving production capacity for TSMC’s upcoming 2nm process node, specifically for its in-house AI chips.

As the largest customer of TSMC, Apple enjoys special privileges. In fact, last year, Apple secured all of TSMC’s 3nm production capacity, allowing it to be the first to use the cutting-edge technology in its iPhone 15 Pro models. This resulted in the A17 Pro chipset, powered by TSMC’s N3B process node, setting a new standard for smartphone performance.

In addition to the A-series APs for iPhones and M-series chips for Macs and iPads, Apple is also developing a new AI chip for cloud-based AI data centers. This chip will enable on-device processing of AI tasks to ensure user privacy and faster results while still leveraging cloud processing for enhanced AI capabilities.

To support its cloud-based AI initiatives, Apple plans to deploy servers powered by the 5nm M2 Ultra chip in its data centers initially. This chip is currently utilized in the Mac Pro and Mac Studio models.

By securing production capacity at TSMC for its upcoming 2nm chips, Apple is poised to continue pushing boundaries in AI technology while maintaining its commitment to user privacy and performance excellence.