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Comment by entropicdrifter

4 days ago

The smallest process they've got up and running right now is 4nm, last I checked

And for the record the A17 Pro chip is 3nm. Used in the iPhone 15 pro and the iPad mini.

But they could make iPhone 14’s and the smaller 15’s.

So which device will these be for then? I thought Apple stuff are always on the cutting edge node.

  • Their new stuff is. The iPad mini just moved from the A15 to the A17, The first MacBook with Intel processors had access to a bin that was not generally available yet. The yield was too low for it to work for an IBM, a Sony, or a Fujitsu. But Apple was low volume and high margin.

    If I was nervous about a new fab, there’s the iPhone SE, the Apple TV, lots of choices for a less aggressive manufacturing node and less aggressive sales figures. If yield is shit you can still offer a product that isn’t killed by its own success.

    • I wonder if Apple Intelligence is forcing them to create new chips for things like the SE and TV instead of using old chips which I think they’d usually do.

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  • Apple still produces older generation devices long after the latest ones are released. That's their whole strategy to address the lower end market.