आइसिटी समाचार
Apple is reportedly to be working with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to develop its own 5G modems for future iPhone models. According to Nikkei, Apple is reported to be aiming to employ TSMC's 4nm manufacturing node, which hasn't yet been implemented for any commercial device; the modem is supposedly being built and tested at 5nm before transitioning to full production in 2023 at 4nm.
Apple is widely expected to transition to self-designed modems in 2023, and TSMC is the obvious manufacturing partner. Qualcomm, the industry's main player and supplier of modem components for the whole iPhone 13 series, has stated that it expects to account for only 20% of iPhone modem orders in two years. In 2019, Apple purchased Intel's 5G modem division, anticipating the changeover.
Qualcomm and Apple had settled an expensive modem technology patent battle earlier that year, with Qualcomm earning over $4 billion as part of the deal. All iPhone A-series CPUs and M1 systems-on-chip for Mac computers are made by TSMC. TSMC has hundreds of engineers working with Apple's chip development team in Cupertino. According to reports, iPhone SoCs will employ TSMC's 4nm technology in 2022, while some iPad models will use 3nm CPUs in 2023.
