Not Ready For Mass Production, IPhone 17 Possibly Not Using 2nm Chips In 2025

JAKARTA - A report stating that the next year's iPhone 17 will adopt TSMC's next-generation 2nm processor is "false news." This was said by trusted sources who frequently provide accurate predictions about Apple's plans, on Monday, July 15.

According to a post by Weibo users "phone chip experts," the 2nm process will not go into mass production until the end of 2025. The owner of the account, which claims to have 25 years of experience in the integrated circuit industry, includes working on Intel's Pentium processor, suggests that the iPhone 17 will still use the 3nm processor from TSMC.

"The 2nm processor will not be mass-produced until the end of 2025, so the iPhone 17 certainly can't keep up," reads the machine translation of the Phone Chip Expert's post. "Only on the iPhone 18, the 2nm processor will be used."

"Anyone who has seen the capacity planning chart will know that this is another report from an immoral media outlet," the user added. He commented on an article by Zhitong Finance repeating a claim recently made by a Taiwan newspaper based on an "industrial source."

TSMC plans to start mass production of 2nm chips next year, but some reports from Taiwan state that the company has accelerated its process to secure stable yields for mass production. Apple is TSMC's lead client, and is usually the first to get a new chip from TSMC. For example, Apple acquired all TSMC 3nm chips by 2023 for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

The 2nm fabrication process, also known as "N2," is expected to offer a 10 to 15 percent increase in speed at the same power or a 25 to 30 percent power reduction at the same speed compared to chips made with TSMC's 3nm technology.

The A17 Pro chip in Apple's iPhone 15 Pro model is produced with the first generation 3nm TSMC process, known as N3B. Apple's M4 chip, which was recently launched on the new iPad Pro, uses an upgraded version of this 3nm technology.

The code on iOS 18 has confirmed that all four models of the iPhone 16 will use Apple's next-generation A18 chip, based on the N3E TSMC process. N3E is TSMC's second-generation 3nm chip fabrication process, which is cheaper and has better results compared to TSMC's first-generation 3nm process.

Weibo users, who deny claims that 2nm will be ready for the iPhone 17, have an accurate prediction track record. Mobile Chip experts are the first to reveal that the iPhone 7 will be waterproof and that the standard iPhone 14 model will continue to use the A15 Bionic chip, while the more advanced A16 chip will be exclusive to the iPhone 14 Pro model. This forecast was later confirmed by several trusted sources and proved true when the product was released.

Recently, Mobile Chip Experts were the first source of information about Apple developing its own AI server processor using the 3nm TSMC process, which is targeted for mass production in the second half of 2025.