According to recent reports, Apple plans to be the first company to use TSMC’s N3E process next year. Based on this 3-nanometer process, single-chip systems for the new iPhone and Mac will be produced.

The source states that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max (or iPhone 15 Ultra) will be built on the basis of the 3-nanometer Apple A17, whose performance and energy efficiency will be significantly increased compared to the Apple A16.

N3E (Enhanced) is the latest generation of TSMC’s enhanced 3nm process. Compared with N5, with the same performance, the power consumption is reduced by 34%, with the same power consumption at the same transistor density, the performance is increased by 18%, which can be increased by 60%.

Initial tests of the Apple A16 showed that the single-chip system, which continued to use the 4nm process, did not come out significantly faster compared to the Apple A15. Sources believe that Apple will no longer be able to provide stronger optimization for the 4nm process and must move to a more advanced process to continue improving performance in the next phase.