TSMC to produce Qualcomm’s 5G chips for iPhone 15 series in 2023

Apple’s long-term silicon supplier, Taiwanese Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will also be producing 5G chips for Qualcomm which will be used in the upcoming iPhone 15 series.

Reportedly, the Cupertino tech giant has been developing its own 5G modem chip for future iPhones. Initially, it was expected that the company will debut its custom 5G modem in 2023 iPhones but recently, Mark Gurman from Bloomberg said that Apple’s custom 5G chip is not ready to be used. Therefore, the company will continue to use Qualcomm’s 5G modems in its next-generation iPhone series.

TSMC to build 5G modems for iPhone 15 series on 4nm process

Previously, Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu said that iPhone 15 series will feature Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X70 modem built on TSMC’s 4nm process for faster connectivity. It would feature AI technology for increased performance, superior power efficiency, PowerSave 3.0, standalone mmWave, 4X sub-6 carrier aggregation, and uplink carrier aggregation.

The new report by DigiTimes corroborates that claim and states that Qualcomm 5G modems for the 2023 iPhone will be built on TSMC’s 5nm or 4nm process.

TSMC is expected to see its capacity utilization for 7/6nm process nodes rebound in the second half of 2023, thanks to substantial orders for Qualcomm’s RF chips used in Apple’s next-generation iPhones, according to industry sources.

The current iPhone 14 series is equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X65 modem with improved 5G speeds and battery life than iPhone 13 series. With an advanced Snapdragon X70 modem, iPhone 15 series is expected to deliver faster average speeds, enhanced coverage, up to 60% longer battery life, and more.