In the trend when every silicon maker started downscaling the manufacturing nodes for chipsets, we saw enormous performance jumps, and it feels like the industry has been stuck at 3nm for a while. Apple was to use a 2nm Node for the iPhone 17 series, but Ming-Chi Kuo says it’s not happening until the 2026 iPhone 18.
There were some reports not long ago about Apple shaking hands with TSMC over a contract for 2nm chips, and it was an early hint for us that the iPhone 17 lineup could be the one to use it. But Ming-Chi Kuo posted on X saying otherwise about the whole situation.
He said that iPhone 17 handsets in 2025 will keep the old TSMC N3P 3nm Node, not even the leaked iPhone 17 Air will use that silicon type. We have to wait till 2026 and the iPhone 18 series for the 2nm node to ever appear, and even then, not all the iPhones in that lineup will be getting it.
Their 2nm engine will only show face in iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max and the non-Pros will keep the same old 3nm tech. He followed up by saying this manufacturing process will cause Pro iPhones to jump in price, and that’s why the non-Pro Apple future iPhones will stick to the old silicon type.
Chipset prices going up is not unheard of each time TSMC makes the node smaller because they need better R&D and more precise machinery and engineering to do so. That sometimes causes production costs to skyrocket, but the results are worth it for us when the chips become more efficient and potent.