After the recent release of the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, you might have thought Apple would take a breath while users adapt. You'd have thought wrong, though.
According to a report from MacRumours (opens in new tab), Apple have secured all of the N3 orders available from TSMC. That means that 3nm processors – likely to be the M3 range for MacBook's and the A17 Bionic chip for iPhones – are coming in droves.
They will reportedly be found in devices launching in the second half of 2023. Based on the current rumour mill, that could mean the 15-inch MacBook Air is the first to get the boost, along with the iPhone 15 range, which will most likely limit the advancement to their Pro tier.
They could be the first commercially available devices with 3nm processors. That's great for users, too, with a reported 35% performance boost over the 4nm process used at the moment. And when you consider just how fast and powerful the current processors are, the results are set to be totally staggering.
It's likely to also mean that the rumoured Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 won't be a 3nm processor. Qualcomm have recently been using TSMC to manufacture their processors, having previously used Samsung, too. But, if Apple have taken up the entire order availability, flagship Android phones will be left using a 4nm alternative.
If that's true, it would give Apple a substantial boost in the race for best phone, and could leave competitive devices from the likes of Samsung far behind. And, given that MacBook Pro models are already widely considered to be a substantial leap ahead of the competition, it could serve to make that gap even wider.
