On April 11th, news reports indicate that after the commercial production of the 3nm process technology began on December 29, 2022, at TSMC, the focus of process technology research and production shifted towards more advanced nodes of 2nm and 1.4nm. With over a year of mass production of the 3nm process technology, there is anticipation regarding when TSMC will start mass producing the 2nm process technology.

In a recent report, foreign media sources suggest that the production schedule for TSMC’s 2nm and 1.4nm process technologies seems to be confirmed. The 2nm process technology is set to begin risk production in the second half of this year, followed by small-scale production in the second quarter of next year, leading to mass production thereafter.

Furthermore, the report mentions that similar to previous process technologies such as 7nm and 5nm which have already been mass produced, TSMC’s 2nm process technology will also have an enhanced version called N2P, slated for mass production in 2026, followed by the even more advanced 1.4nm process technology expected to begin production in 2027.

It is worth noting that in recent quarterly earnings analyst conference calls, TSMC’s CEO C.C. Wei has addressed their 2nm process technology, indicating smooth progress in development, and advancing towards mass production starting in 2025. The timeline of risk production in the second half of this year, followed by small-scale production in the second quarter of next year align closely with Wei’s mentioned production schedule.

As a major client of TSMC, Apple has been a key customer in the early stages of mass production for advanced process technologies in recent years, and this trend is expected to continue with the 2nm process technology. Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Apple has reserved all the initial production capacity of TSMC’s 2nm process technology for manufacturing chips needed for the iPhone 17 Pro series and their proprietary M-series chips.

With TSMC’s 2nm process technology set for mass production in 2025, Apple will only begin adopting it next year. This means that the iPhone 16 Pro series will not feature chips manufactured using TSMC’s 2nm process technology; this will only come with the iPhone 17 Pro series next year.