iPhone 17 could miss out on 2nm processor

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Although Apple’s chip maker TSMC is moving toward 2nm processors, the technology will not be ready in time for to go into the iPhone 17 series next year, according to a noted analyst.

That means iPhone will use 3nm chips for three years running, though the process for making these gets improved annually.

iPhone 17 sticks with improved 3nm chips

Apple designs the CPUs for its computers but they are produced by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest dedicated independent (“pure-play”) semiconductor foundry. Among the reasons Apple uses TSMC is the foundry has generally been able to shrink the components of Apple’s chips every couple of years, allowing the devices they power to be more efficient: work faster while generating less waste heat.

This process was easier when it involved moving from the 45-nanometer Apple A4 to the 32nm A5. But the A18 chip in the new iPhone 16 series was made with a 3nm process, and TSMC is clearly having to work hard to improve to a 2nm process.

It won’t come in time for next autumn’s iPhone 17, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with TF International Securities. “The processors for 2025 iPhone 17 models will be made by TSMC’s N3P process/3-nanometer technology,” he wrote on X on Thursday.

Last year’s A17 was Apple first 3nm chip, and the new A18 is also 3nm. And apparently the A19 will be too. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. TSMC made the A17 with its N3 technology, then the next one with N3E, and next year’s will use N3P, according to Kuo. Each new iteration offers “better power, performance, and density,” according to the Taiwanese foundry.

iPhone 18 can include 2nm chips

The next big step is supposedly in two years. “The processor for 2026 iPhone 18 models is anticipated to use TSMC’s 2-nanometer technology,” predicted Kuo.

But not every iOS handset released that year will get it. The analyst also said, “Due to cost concerns, not all new iPhone 18 models may be equipped with a 2-nanometer processor.”

That’s not surprising. Last year, the two “basic” iPhone 15 series models used an Apple A16 chip from two years ago. Only the pricier Pro versions got the 3nm A17.

Mac too? Probably.

Although Ming-Chi Kuo’s prediction focuses on A-series iPhone processors, Apple M-series Mac chip go in lockstep with them. So it’s likely that when the M5 debuts in 2025 it’ll be a 3nm/NP3 chip. That’ll probably be followed by an Apple M6 in 2026 made with TSMC’s new 2nm process.

Past that will be 1.4nm chips — that process is often called A14. TSMC’s development for these reportedly remains on schedule.

Although these are predictions made by an analyst, not announcements from either Apple of TSMC, Kuo’s sources in Apple’s component supply chain allow him to reveal future details about iPhone and Mac that are often accurate.