If all goes according to plan, there’s a good chance Intel will once again become the world’s most advanced chipmaker next year. TSMC must then return the challenge cup.

Since Pat Gelsinger took over at Intel in 2021, one of the company’s main goals has been to once again have the world’s most advanced chip manufacturing process. After a five-year delay with the introduction of 10nm (now called Intel 7), Intel lost its leadership position to TSMC.

The TSMC N5 process offers higher density with smaller components than Intel 7 and this is having a noticeable impact. The more advanced the production process and the finer the components that a chipmaker can fabricate on a microchip, the more complex and economical that chip can be. TSMC’s lead makes it easier for its customers, like AMD, to develop chips that are superior to Intel’s.

Intel delimits

According to WikiChip Fuse, the tide is turning. TSMC itself has problems with its N3 process. The chipmaker has already been forced to split the process into N3B used by Apple and N3E for the other customers. Chips could be designed more easily for this N3E process. It is also noticeable that the N3 process does not really offer much progress compared to the N5, especially with regard to memory components.

For its part, Intel will introduce Meteor Lake on Intel 4 by the end of this year. This process is the same as TSMC N3 and finally brings Intel back to par. For its part, TSMC will rely on N3 at least until 2025, allowing Intel to fight with equal weapons for more than a year.

Champion with 20A

In fact, Gelsinger and his team want to introduce Intel 20A before TSMC can bring N2 into production. When that happens, Intel will once again take the technology lead. The chips with the smallest transistors and the highest density will come back from an Intel factory after years of lag.

The battle for the most advanced chips is fought at the cutting edge, with extremely complex machines and processes flirting with the laws of physics. So the question is whether everyone can stick to their given timeframes. Predictions are worth less than results, and Intel has already had to trim its product roadmap to keep up its pace of development. Now, however, it seems that the chip manufacturer is finally back in good hands.