TSMC made-in-America chips almost ready for mass production

TSMC’s chip manufacturing facility in Arizona appears to be in the final stages of entering mass production. New report from Nikkei Asia confirms that Apple is in the final stages of “validation” of TSMC chips made in America, with mass production expected to begin later this quarter. People with knowledge of the matter have confirmed that Apple is currently testing unnamed A-series chips made at TSMC’s Arizona plant.

TSMC semiconductor manufacturing plant in Phoenix, Arizona.

According to recent reports, TSMC’s Arizona plant will produce older Apple chipsets such as the A16 Bionic used in iPhone 15 AndiPhone 15 Plus and the Apple S9 chip found inside Apple Watch Series 9 And Watch Ultra 2 smart watch.

TSMC has been the recipient of several U.S. government grants under the CHIPS and Science Act, the most recent of which was valued at $6.6 billion. completed back in November. The goal of the Chips and Science Act is to help support U.S. chip manufacturing while creating local jobs.

TSMC’s roadmap calls for the chip giant to produce 4nm chips in Arizona this year and 3nm chips in 2028 using N2 and A16 nanosheet processes. The chipset maker also aims to open a third semiconductor foundry in Arizona by 2030, tasked with producing 2nm chips.

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