TSMC has started mass production on the 3nm process

TSMC started the first mass production on its 3nm process on Thursday. The Taiwanese manufacturer was already planning to start production in the second half of 2022, which has now been achieved.

Digitimes previously wrote that TSMC would manage to start mass production on a 3nm process before the end of this year. Mass production has begun at one of TSMC’s factories in southern Taiwan, writes Reuters. “TSMC maintains its technological leadership while investing significantly in Taiwan,” TSMC CEO Mark Liu said at a ceremony in Tainan city to mark the production and capacity expansion. Liu adds that demand for the company’s 3nm chip is “very high,” partly due to increasing demand for 5G devices.

It is expected that Apple in particular will use the production process in the future. There were previously rumors that all iPhone 16 models would run on 3nm SoCs. It was later also announced that the company had started designing an M3 SoC based on TSMC’s 3nm process. The Macbook 14 and 16, the Mac Studio and Mac mini would also receive an M3 Pro socket made using that process. At the beginning of December, TSMC also announced that it will build a second factory in the US state of Arizona, which will produce 3nm chips.