According to a new report, Apple has been developing a more powerful Mac mini around the same chip as the next MacBook Pro to replace its high-end Intel-based counterpart.
The die size of Apple's vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) chips used for Face ID in new iPhone and iPad models coming down the pike later this year should be cut in half.
Apple during Tuesday’s Spring Forward event announced exciting new devices and technologies. Among those was a refresh for both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch the iPad Pro tablets – now dubbed the 3rd generation and 5th generation respectively for the year of 2021.
There’s a lot to take in, and that’s why in this piece, we’ll compare the features and technical specifications of the 3rd generation 11-inch iPad Pro and 5th generation iPad Pro of 2021 with the features and technical specifications of the 2nd generation 11-inch iPad Pro and 4th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro of 2020.
The world's leading semiconductor foundry has issued a warning predicting that the global chip shortage that's hurting technology companies the most won't be resolved anytime soon.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused a global chip shortage—that's why you haven't been able to purchase your PlayStation 5—and Apple has been immune to this problem, up until now.
While M1 Macs have the RAM and SSD soldered to the logic board, it's been discovered that users armed with patience may be able to upgrade the memory and storage of Apple's M1 chip.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is addressing a chip shortage plaguing the global semiconductor industry by increasing its planned investment in expanding production capacity to a whopping $100 billion, a major financial commitment.
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$100B expenditure over the next year to boost output. TSMC's been running at 100% capacity over the last year. It previously planned to spend $28B in 2021 alone. TSMC also builds chips for Nvidia, Qualcomm and others. A staggering financial commitmentTSMC already planned a record capital expenditure of $28 billion in 2021 alone, but that was before the pandemic and stay-at-home measures boosted demand for electronics significantly.
Bloomberg has TSMC's statement acknowledging the massive capital expenditure:
In order to keep up with demand, TSMC expects to invest $100 billion over the next three years to increase capacity to support the manufacturing and research and development of advanced semiconductor technologies. TSMC is working closely with our customers to address their needs in a sustainable manner.
CEO C.C. Wei told customers that TSMC's fabrication facilities have been “running at over hundred percent utilization over the past twelve months.” Still, demand outpaced supply and not even hiring thousands of additional engineers and having multiple new fabrication facilities under construction could change that, he wrote recently in a letter to customers.
TSMC is entering a period of higher growth as the multiyear megatrends of 5G and HPC are expected to fuel strong demand for our semiconductor technologies in the next several years.
TSMC's investment should be good news for Apple.
Global chip shortages snarl electronicsApple has relied on TSMC's foundry service for years now—According to a recent supply chain report, Apple has already booked the initial production capacity of TSMC's four-nanometre chips for its next-generation Macs.
Demand for semiconductors of all stripes, buoyed by the pandemic, has caused a major global chip shortage which has, in turn, snarled everything from smartphones and tablets to cars.
→ How to verify that your Mac runs Apple silicon
The world's biggest independent semiconductor foundry, TSMC was awarded an Apple contract following legal disputes between the Cupertino firm and Samsung over the iPhone's look and feel. Aside from Apple, TSMC counts as its customers many of the leading fabless semiconductor companies like Nvidia, Qualcomm, AMD, Broadcom, Marvell and MediaTek.
A semiconductor foundry is basically a producer of chips designed by others.
Meanwhile, Intel will pour $20 billion into two new domestic factories in Arizona to compete with TSMC as it plans to build chips for other companies. As for Samsung, it's allocated about $100 billion for an expansion of its own semiconductor business over the next ten years.
Apple's contracted Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to build next-generation chips for the upcoming iPhone 13 and its next Mac computers ahead of schedule.
It was only recently that Intel wooed "I'm a Mac" star Justin Long to appear in ads that target M1 Macs, yet the embattled chipmaker is now looking to make future Apple silicon.
Intel has officially announced that its chief executive Bob Swan is stepping down on February 15, 2021, with its former executive and current VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger replacing him.
The performance of both native ARM-based and emulated 64-bit Intel-based software on a Surface Pro X isn’t even close to the new Macs powered by Apple's M1 laptop chip. "Windows on ARM needs a miracle," according to one publication which ran various benchmarks to see how Windows on ARM compares to macOS Big Sur running on Apple silicon.
Desktop Apple silicon chips with higher power budgets are being readied for the upcoming higher-end MacBook Pro notebooks, all-in-one iMac desktops and the Mac Pro workstation.