Wired
According to Nikkei News, people familiar with the matter revealed that Apple is establishing a closer cooperative relationship with TSMC. TSMC plans to produce 5G iPhone modems for it from 2023, thereby reducing its dependence on Qualcomm.
People familiar with the matter said that Apple plans to use TSMC’s 4nm production technology to mass-produce the company’s first self-developed 5G modem chip. In addition, Apple is reported to be developing its own radio frequency and millimeter wave components to supplement this modem. People familiar with the matter added that Apple is also developing its own power management chip for this modem.
It is reported that these components used in the latest generation of iPhone are provided by Qualcomm.
But Apple has been working hard in recent years to reduce its dependence on Qualcomm and strengthen its control of key semiconductor components. The two US companies settled a protracted patent lawsuit in 2019, and Qualcomm recently confirmed that its proportion of iPhone modem orders will drop to about 20% in 2023.
According to people familiar with the matter, in addition to lowering the fees paid to Qualcomm, self-developed modems can pave the way for Apple to integrate TSMC’s chips with internally developed mobile processors. This will enable the American technology giant to better control its hardware integration capabilities and improve chip efficiency. At present, most mobile chip developers are integrating 5G modem systems into processor chips.
The modem chip is a key component that determines the call quality and data transmission speed. This field has long been dominated by Qualcomm, MediaTek and Huawei, and Qualcomm has a large number of patents in this field. Intel has been supplying modem chips for Apple with Qualcomm since 2016, but in 2019 it withdrew from the field of smartphone modem chip development and sold this business to Apple.
Although Apple has used self-developed A-series mobile processors for more than 10 years, it is more challenging to develop mobile modem chips, because such chips must support all old communication protocols-from 2G, 3G and 4G to the latest 5G standards .
In the process of strengthening Apple’s self-developed component development strategy, TSMC has always been its important partner, and has also become the exclusive producer of iPhone processors and M1 Mac processors. People familiar with the matter said that the company has hundreds of engineers stationed at Apple’s headquarters to help it plan its chip development roadmap.
According to people familiar with the matter, Apple will use TSMC’s 5nm process to design and test the latest 5G iPhone modem chips. Later, more advanced 4 nanometer technology will be used for mass production. Commercialization will not be realized until 2023, partly because of the need to reserve enough time for suppliers around the world to verify and test this new modem chip.
Apple will also use TSMC’s 4nm technology in the iPhone processor in the second half of 2022. According to reports, the company is also the first company to adopt TSMC’s most advanced 3nm technology and will be used in iPad production next year.
According to people familiar with the matter, Apple is currently finalizing the final plan for the use of 3 nanometer technology to produce iPhone processors, which is expected to be realized in 2023 at the earliest.
In response, Apple declined to comment, and TSMC has not yet responded.