[News] TSMC Reportedly Powers Apple’s iPhone 16e with A18 Chip Built on N3E and C1 Modem on 4nm

Apple’s iPhone 16e, unveiled on February 20, features the A18 chip as well as its first self-developed cellular modem, C1. Notably, both chips are manufactured by TSMC, making the foundry giant the biggest beneficiary, as per Commercial Times.

According to Commercial Times, Apple’s A18 was built with TSMC’s N3E node. Meanwhile, C1 was reportedly crafted with TSMC’s 4nm and 7nm nodes.

Promoted as Apple’s most affordable AI phone, iPhone 16e is expected to ship 22 million units in 2025, and will thus bring robust momentum to TSMC, the report adds.

Supply chain sources cited by the report suggest that the A18 chip also leverages TSMC’s integrated fan-out packaging (InFO-PoP), with its advanced neural network engine (NPU) powering Apple Intelligence features.

For the C1 modem, the baseband modem was built using a 4nm process and the receiver using a 7nm process, both likely manufactured by TSMC, as per Commercial Times.

Notably, the report notes that chip giants, like Qualcomm and MediaTek, have integrated modem chips into their SoCs. Apple’s C1 chip, therefore, could eliminate licensing fees and improve power efficiency, the report indicates.

As noted by Reuters, Qualcomm executives stated that they expect their share of Apple modems to drop from its current 100% to as low as 20% by next year, though Qualcomm still has a technology licensing agreement in place with Apple until at least 2027.

Furthermore, the Commercial Times report notes that Apple plans to integrate the C1 chip into the Apple Watch and iPad by 2026, with plans to expand to Macs. The second-gen “Ganymede” modem will switch to a 3nm process next year, followed by the third-gen “Prometheus,” both likely made by TSMC, according to the report.

Read more

• [News] Apple Unveils iPhone 16e: A Budget AI-Powered Smartphone, Replacing the SE Line
• [News] Apple Unveils Its First In-House Modem, Moving Away from Qualcomm

(Photo credit: Apple)