Apple has always tried to be on top of everyone else when it gets to developing custom chipsets for its devices for a while. Apple built close relationships with Taiwan Semiconductor giant, TSMC, which has been producing the chipsets for Apple and developing its own technology to further enhance the manufacturing techniques that are used. A new report claims that Apple might not be able to put 3nm processors into its iPhone 14 Series of devices that will be coming out in 2022.

The report comes from the Information, who took a closer look at TSMC and Apple’s relationship. The A15 Bionic chipset was manufactured on the 5nm process that’s used in the iPad mini and the iPhone 13 Series of devices. TSMC was in the works of developing and transitioning to a 3nm manufacturing technique, but the semiconductor giant is facing a lot of challenges and problems (via 9to5Mac).

Each and every new process provides more power-efficient and more powerful chipsets that let companies such as Apple further optimize it. If the iPhone 14 Series were equipped with an A16 Bionic SoC built on the 3nm process, it would provide significant improvements that would have likely put Apple in the first place again.

“The upshot of TSMC’s struggles is that the iPhone’s processor will be stuck on the same chip manufacturing process for three consecutive years, including next year, for the first time in its history, according to an analysis by The Information of Apple’s previous chips. That could in turn cause some customers to put off upgrading their devices for another year and give Apple’s competitors a bit more time to catch up.”

While TSMC is still expected to fully develop the 3nm process, it may not be able to roll it out to its partners and develop tens or hundreds of millions of units. If this turns out to be true, the iPhone 14 Series will likely stick to the 5nm SoCs, which will likely provide marginal improvements for the next generation of devices. 

Apple iPhone 13

The iPhone 13 series are the latest flagship devices from Apple. It comes with an upgraded A15 Bionic chipset, new cameras, and great new features.