On June 24, 2025, a number of authoritative media reported that TSMC is building an exclusive 2-nanometer (nm) process production line for Apple, and supporting the advanced WMCM (Wafer-on-Wafer Multi-Chip Module) packaging technology to support the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro series in 2026. Apple's A20 chip will be the first commercial mobile processor to use a 2nm process and a WMCM package. This in-depth cooperation not only consolidates the dominant position of the two parties in the high-end market, but also indicates that the smartphone industry will usher in a new round of architectural innovation and technology competition.
1. Technological double leap: 2nm process and WMCM packaging go hand in hand
The 2nm process represents the most cutting-edge technology in wafer fabrication today. Compared with TSMC's current main N3E (3nm enhanced version) process, the 2nm process is expected to reduce power consumption by about 25% to 35% at the same performance, improve performance by 10% to 15% at the same power consumption, and increase transistor density by more than 1.15 times. This leap forward is due to the introduction of the GAA (Gate-All-Around) surround gate transistor architecture, which marks the transition from FinFET to the next generation of chip design.
Apple's A20 chip uses a 2nm process, which can bring higher frequency, lower latency, and stronger AI inference capabilities, providing underlying computing power for complex application scenarios such as multitasking, game graphics rendering, and generative AI.
The introduction of WMCM packaging technology is an important breakthrough for Apple in chip system integration. Unlike the previous TSMC InFO (Integrated Fan-Out) package, which focuses on single-chip packaging, WMCM allows heterogeneous chiplets such as CPU, GPU, NPU, and DRAM to be stacked or side-by-side in a single package, significantly shortening the data path, reducing power consumption, and increasing bandwidth.
Well-known analysts such as Ming-Chi Kuo predict that thanks to the high integration of WMCM, the iPhone 18 Pro series will be equipped with 12GB LPDDR6 memory as standard for the first time, compared with the current iPhone 15 Pro's 8GB memory, which not only improves the efficiency of AI task execution, but also makes it possible for applications to stay in the background for a long time, greatly enhancing multitasking capabilities.
2. Industrial collaborative upgrading: the logic behind TSMC's "customized services" for Apple
TSMC's leading position in the advanced process foundry market is undeniable. By the end of 2024, TSMC has a global 5nm and 3nm foundry market share of more than 85%, and its capabilities in high-end customer customization are industry benchmarks. The independent construction of a 2nm production line for Apple has further strengthened its strategy of "deep binding of super large customers".
According to DigiTimes, the 2nm dedicated production line is deployed at TSMC's P1 factory in Chiayi Science Park, and is expected to start mass production in the second half of 2026, with an initial monthly production capacity of 10,000 wafers, mainly serving high-performance versions of Apple's A-series and M-series chips. In addition, TSMC will also put into production the WMCM packaging production line at the same time, establishing a complete delivery link from wafer fabrication to system-in-package (SiP).
This move not only ensures the production capacity security of Apple's new generation of chips, but also lays a solid foundation for TSMC to maintain its technical voice with Samsung and Intel in the 2nm node. Samsung previously announced that its 2nm GAA process will enter mass production in 2025, but it is widely believed that its yield and packaging synergy have not yet reached the level of commercial-scale availability.
Figure: TSMC has "opened a small stove" for Apple again: 2nm dedicated production line + WMCM package
3. The smart terminal market is accelerating the reshuffle: the high-end trend drives the technical threshold to increase
Apple's promotion of the mass production of 2nm+WMCM is a key tactical deployment for it to stabilize its position in the high-end market. In 2023, Apple will take second place in the world with 18.4% of global smartphone shipments, but its dominance in terms of profits is even more significant — Counterpoint data shows that Apple accounts for nearly 80% of the total profits of the global smartphone industry.
With the commercial launch of the A20 chip and WMCM package, the iPhone 18 Pro series is expected to achieve a multi-dimensional leap in processing performance, graphics rendering, AI computing power, energy consumption control, etc., and attract a larger high-end user base. This move will also force the Android camp to accelerate the pace of catching up: Samsung, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi and other manufacturers are bound to invest more resources to promote self-developed SoCs or closely cooperate with chip design companies such as MediaTek and Qualcomm to promote the commercialization of advanced packaging and computing power optimization solutions as soon as possible.
According to IDC's forecast, global smartphone shipments will rebound to 1.42 billion units in 2026, of which high-performance AI phones (with built-in NPUs and support for large model local inference) are expected to account for more than 30%. Technology competition will directly drive the demand for user replacement and drive the recovery of the entire supply chain.
4. Ecosystem expansion: Promote the comprehensive upgrade of AI and IoT devices
The cooperation between Apple and TSMC is not only limited to smartphones, but may also deeply affect the entire smart terminal ecosystem, especially in the field of AI and IoT. Thanks to the system-level computing power provided by the 2nm process and the WMCM package, spatial computing devices such as the Apple Vision Pro will gain more powerful local AI processing power, further breaking away from cloud dependencies and enabling low-latency AR/VR experiences.
In terms of AI tasks, combined with NPU and high-bandwidth packaging, the A20 chip is expected to achieve an image recognition accuracy of more than 99%, and the processing time is controlled in milliseconds, supporting more natural voice assistant interaction and real-time machine translation. At the same time, Apple's smart wearables, HomePod, Apple TV and other product lines will also benefit from more efficient SoC modules to achieve seamless collaboration across devices.
According to Statista, the number of connected IoT devices worldwide is expected to reach 30 billion by 2030. With its highly integrated capabilities in terminals, chips, and ecological services, Apple will build a self-contained AIoT ecological closed loop in the fields of smart homes, wearable devices, and in-vehicle terminals.
5. Conclusion: The linkage upgrade of the industrial chain defines the competition threshold in the next five years
TSMC's construction of a 2nm dedicated production line for Apple and the simultaneous promotion of WMCM packaging are an important symbol of the transformation of the semiconductor foundry model from "service" to "strategic collaboration". This deeply bound innovation model not only improves the efficiency of product launch, but also raises the competition barriers between the two parties in core scenarios such as AI, edge computing, and intelligent terminals in the future.
For the entire industry chain, this cooperation sends a strong signal: advanced processes and system-in-package are no longer pure technology stacks, but the key to determining product definition and market dominance. In the future, whoever can control the coordination of process nodes, packaging routes, and system architecture will be able to control the dominance of the new round of industrial cycle.
Apple's cooperation with TSMC is writing the prelude to this new era.
