One way or another, it seems that prices for future Apple devices are going up. If it’s not because of tariffs, a new report claims that going to be because of the cost of the chips that run the devices.
According to a report by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, Apple will “definitely use TSMC’s 2nm process” in its chips next year. That’s exciting for buyers who want the latest and greatest tech, but not for the price tag. The 2nm process is reportedly a lot more expensive than 3nm, which means prices might be going up.
It’s been reported that the cost of a 2nm wafer is $30,000, versus $18,000 for 3nm chips.
Last December, TSMC set the goal of mass producing 2nm chip in 2025, and then a month later, TSMC demonstrated the process to Apple and other companies. Apple tends to adopt TSMC’s new processes early, but 2nm chips aren’t expected in the iPhone and Mac until next year, which could give Apple some time to figure out other ways to absorb the cost other than by passing it on to the customer. It’s also possible that by the time those products go into production, TSMC will have lowered the cost because of boosted production.
The other possibility is that Apple decides to stick to the second-generation 3nm process for another chip generation. This could mean that the performance progress we usually see from one chip generation to another (which is about 15 to 25 percent) could be smaller. The 2nm process not only allows for more transistors, those transistors are switching from fin field-effect transistors (FinFET) to gate-all-around field-effect transistors (GAAFET) that allow for an improvement in performance with better power efficiency.
The nanometer process refers to the production of the chip, and 2nm allows for increased transistor density over the previous 3nm and 5nm processes. The higher the transistor density, the better the performance, and the process can also result in better power efficiency. Apple’s M4 and A18 Pro chips are made using TSMC’s second-generation 3nm process, and it was expected that the M6 and A20 Pro would be the first 2nm chips in the Mac and iPhone, respectively, in 2026.
Apple isn’t the only company that needs to figure out what to do with TSMC’s 2nm process. The Wccftech report states that Qualcomm and MediaTek are also interested in 2nm, but may look at other ways to offset the cost.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.