If you happen to be a technology enthusiast, June would certainly be a month to watch. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, joined by AMD CEO Lisa Su, visited Taiwan to announce their product roadmaps in COMPUTEX 2024. NVIDIA unveiled its new generation Rubin architecture, indicating that the R series products are expected to go into mass production in the fourth quarter of 2025.

On the other hand, AMD introduced its Ryzen AI 300 Series processors with the world’s most powerful Neural Processing Unit (NPU) for next-gen AI PCs, featuring a new Zen 5 CPU, as well as its latest AI chips, MI325X and MI350.

Interestingly enough, on 4 June, the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, TSMC, held its shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu, Taiwan. When asked about the company’s relationships with NVIDIA and AMD, President C.C. Wei has reaffirmed TSMC’s strong relationships with the two tech giants, saying that the company will prosper with its clients.

What will be the highlights for TSMC’s progress in advanced logic process, and what are some of the most advanced products introduced in COMPUTEX made with TSMC’s advanced nodes? Please proceed to find out more. For now, TSMC’s 3nm seems to be the most popular node.

N3 Family

TSMC’s N3E (the more cost-effective second generation of the 3nm process) entered mass production in the fourth quarter of 2023. On the other hand, N3P (a more advanced version) is scheduled to enter mass production in the second half of 2024. Its yield performance is close to that of N3E, while customer product designs have already been tape-out.

TSMC states that due to N3P’s superior performance, better power consumption and area (PPA) characteristics, most 3nm products will eventually adopt the node. In the future, the industry may expect to see more high-end products manufactured with 3nm.

Regarding capacity, driven by the strong demand from HPC and mobile phone, TSMC has tripled its 3nm capacity in 2024 compared to that of 2023. However, as it is still not enough, the world’s largest semiconductor foundry has been striving to meet customer demand.

Intel’s Lunar Lake/ Arrow Lake

At COMPUTEX 2024, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger introduced Lunar Lake, its latest AI PC chip, and thank its friend “TSMC” for their full support.

Starting Q3 2024 in time for the holiday season, Lunar Lake will power more than 80 new laptop designs across more than 20 original equipment manufacturers.

In a previous report by Wccftech, Gelsinger stated that Intel has collaborated with TSMC to power up its next-gen CPUs, adopting N3B, the first-generation 3nm process, for Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake.

NVIDIA’s Rubin

On the other hand, NVIDIA’s Rubin GPU architecture is now official: the Rubin GPU will feature 8 HBM4, while the Rubin Ultra GPU will come with 12 HBM4 chips, noted by Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA.

Per a report from Wccftech, NVIDIA’s Rubin GPU is expected to utilize TSMC’s CoWoS-L packaging technology, along with its N3 process. Moreover, NVIDIA will use next-generation HBM4 DRAM to power its Rubin GPU.

Regarding NVIDIA’s previous GPUs, according to Commercial Times’ report, H200 and B100 reportedly are said to adopt TSMC’s 4-nanometer and 3-nanometer processes, respectively.

AMD’s MI 325X/ MI350

On 3 June, AMD CEO Lisa Su stated that the company’s relationship with TSMC is “very strong,” even as rumors have been circulating about a potential partnership with Samsung, TSMC’s main competitor.

AMD unveiled the company’s latest AI chip, MI325X, at the opening of COMPUTEX Taipei. Su emphasized that the MI325X boasts 30% faster computing speed compared to NVIDIA’s H200.

Furthermore, she also announced that AMD will release MI350 in 2025, which will be manufactured with TSMC’s 3nm process, while MI400 is expected to follow, launched in 2026.

When asked if AMD intended to procure chips manufactured using Samsung’s 3-nanometer (3nm) gate-all-around (GAA) process, Su reiterated AMD’s commitment to utilizing “the most advanced technology,” saying that AMD is certainly going to use 3 nm, 2 nm, and beyond. She also confirmed that there are several 3nm products currently being developed in collaboration with TSMC.

In addition to TSMC’s collaboration with clients on 3nm, this article also curates TSMC’s progresses on its 2nm node and other advanced processes. More information below:

N2 Family

The N2 process utilizes nanosheet transistors, thus would be able to offer superior energy efficiency. Currently, TSMC’s 2nm technology is progressing smoothly, with nanosheet conversion performance reaching the target of 90%, indicating that the yield exceeds 80%. Mass production is expected in 2025.

In the future, TSMC states that more members of the N2 family will emerge, including applications like N2P and N2X.

Read more

• [News] TSMC’s Advanced Packaging Capacity Fully Booked by NVIDIA and AMD Through Next Year
• [News] Samsung Reportedly Doing Its Utmost to Win 3nm GPU Orders from NVIDIA

(Photo credit: TSMC)

According to a report from Korean media The Korea Economic Daily, Samsung Electronics Co. is planning to apply its 3nm process chips to its Galaxy series smartphones and smartwatches, posing a challenge to rivals Apple and TSMC.

The report cited industry sources on May 13th, stating that Samsung’s second-generation 3nm production line in South Korea is set to commence operations in the latter half of this year (2024). The first product to be manufactured on this line will reportedly be the application processor (AP) for the upcoming Galaxy Watch7, tentatively named “Exynos W1000,” which is expected to be unveiled in July.

As per the same report citing sources, the Exynos W1000 is set to utilize the semiconductor industry’s most advanced second-generation 3nm process, with computing performance and power efficiency expected to increase by over 20%. In comparison, the Apple Watch Series 9 utilizes a 5nm application processor.

On another note, industry sources cited by the same report revealed that Samsung’s next-generation flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S25, scheduled for an early 2025 release, will also feature the 3nm Exynos W1000 application processor. Samsung aims to unveil this technology ahead of the Paris Summer Olympics opening on July 26th, with a “Galaxy Unpacked” event scheduled for July 10th in Paris.

The mobile processor industry has entered the 3nm battleground. Per Wccftech’s previous report, it is rumored that TSMC’s N3E process is also used for producing products like the A18 Pro chip scheduled to be used in iPhone 16 Pro, the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, and the MediaTek Dimensity 9400, among other major clients’ products.

Meanwhile, as per a report from another South Korean media outlet TheElec, Siyoung Choi, the President of Samsung’s Foundry Business, predicted during the annual shareholders’ meeting on March 20th that the second-generation 3nm process is expected to begin production in the latter half of this year, while production for the 2nm process is slated for next year.

Read more

• [News] Apple M4 Incoming, Boosting TSMC’s 3nm Production
• [News] Rise of In-House Chips: 5 Tech Giants In the Front

(Photo credit: Samsung)

In a bid to seize the AI PC market opportunity, Apple is set to debut its new iPad Pro on the 7th, featuring its in-house M4 chip. With the momentum of the M4 chip’s strong debut, Apple reportedly plans to revamp its entire Mac lineup. The initial batch of M4 Macs is estimated to hit the market gradually from late this year to early next year.

It’s reported by a report from Commercial Times that Apple’s M4 chip adopts TSMC’s N3E process, aligning with Apple’s plans for a major performance upgrade for Mac, which is expected to boost TSMC’s operations.

Notably, per Wccftech’s previous report, it is rumored that the N3E process is also used for producing products like the A18 Pro, the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, and the MediaTek Dimensity 9400, among other major clients’ products.

Apple held an online launch event in Taiwan on May 7th at 10 p.m. Per industry sources cited by the same report, besides introducing accessories like iPad Pro, iPad Air, and Apple Pencil, the event will mark the debut of the M4 self-developed chip, unveiling the computational capabilities of Apple’s first AI tablet.

With major computer brands and chip manufacturers competing to release AI PCs, such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus, and Intel introducing Core Ultra into various laptop brands, it is imperative for Apple to upgrade the performance of its products. Therefore, the strategy of highlighting AI performance through the M4 chip comes as no surprise.

According to a report by Mark Gurman from Bloomberg, the M4 chip will be integrated across Apple’s entire Mac product line. The first batch of M4 Macs is said to be expected to debut as early as the end of this year, including new iMac models, standard 14-inch MacBook Pro, high-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. New products for 2025 will also be released gradually, such as updates to the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air in the spring, updates to the Mac Studio in mid-year, and finally updates to the Mac Pro.

The report from Commercial Times has claimed that the M4 chip will come in three versions: Donan, Brava, and Hidra. The Donan variant is intended for entry-level MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and low-end Mac mini models. The Brava version is expected to be used in high-end MacBook Pro and Mac mini models, while the Hidra version will be integrated into desktop Mac Pro computers.

Apple’s plan to introduce the M4 chip into its Mac series is expected to boost the revenue of TSMC’s 3-nanometer family. The report has indicated that the M4 chip will still be manufactured using TSMC’s 3-nanometer process, but with enhancements to the neural processing engine (NPU), providing AI capabilities to Apple’s product line. Additionally, industry sources cited by the same report have revealed that the M4 will utilize TSMC’s N3E process, an improvement over the previous N3B process used in the M3 series chips.

Meanwhile, TSMC continues to advance its existing advanced process node optimization versions. Among them, the N3E variant of the 3-nanometer family, which entered mass production in the fourth quarter of last year, will be followed by N3P and N3X. Currently, N3E is highly likely to be featured in the new generation iPad Pro.

Source: TSMC

Read more

• [News] Apple Rumored to Develop In-House AI Processor for Mass Production in the Second Half of 2025
• [News] Apple Reportedly Releases Supply Chain List, Nanya Technology, Lotes, and Novatek Not Included

(Photo credit: Apple)