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Re:TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B tr... by manquer on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @10:34AM (#25277223)
Apple has not really "bought up all the capacity" it was just PR spin. they had simply booked three months worth while TSMC is still ramping up the 5nm process.

Apple market share is simply not large enough to do that. Yes their numbers are huge, but there are lot more people who cannot or will not buy laptops priced $ 1,000+ than there are ones who are ready to pay that globally.

Re:TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B tr... by no_wizard on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @10:47AM (#25277399)
It’s not just the M1 though. I believe they are going to be if they aren’t already using TSMC for all their chips so iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch if I recall correctly. That’s a lot of capacity.

Ultimately they’re in this huge success mode which is great! They just have to be careful Not to overbuild additional supply and end in a situation where demand tempers for some reason and they are now in a glut

Re:TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B tr... by ajross on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @01:36PM (#25279678)
To first approximation, it's not the M1 at all. In terms of silicon area, Apple ships iPhones, with a few other products mixed in. But mostly they just make iPhones.
Re:TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B tr... by hajile on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @03:05PM (#25280873)
Android devices outsell the iPhone almost 10 to 1. I'd wager that Qualcomm's 5nm orders will be very close to Apple's current order.
Re:TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B tr... by legulere on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @03:58PM (#25281548)
I think Android chips have less die area though (because they have less cache) and many android devices are rather cheap and have SoCs produced on older processes.
Re:TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B tr... by hajile on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @08:04PM (#25283983)
Snapdragon 865 is 83.54mm^2 (7nm)

Apple A12 is 83.27mm^2 (7nm)

Apple A13 is 98.48mm^2 (7nm+)

Apple A14 is 88mm^2 (5nm)

Not a very big difference. Remember, Qualcomm's chip includes a modem while Apple's does not (at present). Qualcomm has also been putting a lot of resources into other areas like neural processors. Their upcoming 888 claims 26 TOPS (vs 11 TOPS for Apple)

Cache is a very common misnomer too. A14 has 8MB of shared L2. 888 has 4MB of shared L3 plus 1MB for the X1 core and 0.5MB per each A78 core. It also has 3MB of what they call DSU cache which serves as a kind of general cache for everything on the chip that needs to hit memory. That's actually 1.5MB more total cache than Apple offers.

Re:TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B tr... by ogre_codes on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @11:55AM (#25278328)
> will not buy laptops priced $ 1,000+

The iPhone and iPad are using up a lot more of TSMC's capacity than the Mac. Also most sub $1k laptops and lower end phones not getting chips with the latest TSMC silicon in them. They are getting older 14nm Qualcomm, AMD, or Intel CPUs.

EDIT: I previously implied all sub $1k laptops had 14nm CPUs which isn't true.

Re:TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B tr... by regularfry on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @12:13PM (#25278598)
You say that, but there are certainly Ryzen 7 laptop models around in the sub-$1k range. People like HP put their mid-ranges together with AMD chips on the basis that Intel's were the premium ones.

Now, these models do exist, in theory. I challenge you to find any stock, though, and that's going to hurt AMD.

Re:TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B tr... by StillBored on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @02:45PM (#25280627)
The 4700U/4500U product lines have been everywhere for the past few months in the US. HP/Dell/Acer all have products sitting on the shelves at best buy, walmart, etc. These are the mid-tier AMD products, but they are extremely well placed when compared with the vast majority of the intel product lines they are sitting next to. In many cases the $600-700 those products are selling for best pretty much all the intel products priced below $1200 or so.

(HP, which I don't recommend, was selling a 4700U based product starting at $400 on black Friday on their web site)

edit: Heck just checked there are loaded Asus ROG G14's in stock at a local retailer for under $1200 (that is 4900HS+RTX 2060). Pretty much one of the fastest laptops out there.

Re:TSMC confirms 3nm tech for 2022, could enable epic 80B tr... by ogre_codes on Wednesday December 02, 2020 @12:55PM (#25279130)
Agree. My above post was poorly worded.