TSMC’s future US plants will make chips for newer Apple devices

TSMC, one of the leading chip makers and a key supplier of Apple, began manufacturing chips at its first plant in the US in Arizona late last year. It took the Taiwan-based chip maker nearly five years to build these factories. However, the company is accelerating its US expansion and says that future plants will proceed at a significantly faster speed. If everything goes as TSMC expects, US-made chips will finally make their way to the newer Apple devices.

TSMC’s upcoming US plants will make chips for new Apple products in a few years

TSMC’s first manufacturing plant in the US currently only makes the Apple A16 Bionic chips. This SoC powers the iPhone 14 Pro/Pro Max—now discontinued—and the vanilla and Plus iPhone 15 models.

Essentially, the first TSMC production facility in Arizona is only capable of making chips for older iPhones. However, the company’s second plant in Arizona will produce 3nm chips. The third plant will take things to the next level by manufacturing 2nm processors. So, the chip technology giant’s second and third plants will be ready to make chips for newer Apple products.

TSMC will begin construction on a third factory in Arizona soon

According to Nikkei Asia, TSMC will start building its third manufacturing plant in Arizona later this year. It will be part of the company’s broader $165 billion investment push in the US. While the first TSMC US chip plant took a long time to complete, the construction on the new plants is proceeding at faster speeds, suggests the report.

People familiar with the matter told Nikkei Asia that after a steep learning curve, TSMC expects to build the upcoming US plants closer to its standard “Taiwan speed” of around two years. It will certainly be a sharp improvement over the construction time of the first chip plant in Arizona.

TSMC plans to bring its second (3nm) chip manufacturing factory in Arizona online in 2028. The chip maker expects to complete its third plant, capable of making 2nm processors, “before 2030.”

So, for the near future, don’t expect a “Made in America” processor in any of your Apple products, including the next-gen iPhones. TSMC will continue supplying chips for the latest Apple devices from its factories in Taiwan.

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