The past couple of weeks have been exciting ones, with alleged A17 Bionic performance numbers leaking out that, unfortunately, turned out to be fake. It is possible that Apple would not be able to replicate these results as TSMC is rumored to be struggling with its 3nm chip production, forcing its most lucrative client to drop the performance goal of its upcoming high-end iPhone SoC.

A performance goal revision of the A17 Bionic can also mean the M3 will be treated the same way

Despite Apple being TSMC’s only 3nm chip customer, Revegnus, on Twitter, appears to suggest that the manufacturer continues to struggle with production, which is why he mentions that the A17 Bionic’s performance goal has dropped. Earlier, he shared a tweet talking about the rumored single-core and multi-core scores of the chipset that will exclusively be foundin the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. However, he says that he is taking back those claims thanks to the recent development.

After asking him on the thread if TSMC’s 3nm yield goal has also dropped, the tipster responds with an affirmative, indicating that the supply of the A17 Bionic could be limited if the chip maker does not manage to fix these problems. Hearing about TSMC’s issues is a strange thought too, because according to an earlier report, the manufacturer was seemingly faring significantly better than Samsung, with its yield rate said to have reached an impressive 80 percent.

Yes, I'll take back the rumor.

TSMC is surprisingly struggling at 3 nanometers.

The limits of the FinFET process have come

A17's goal may have been lowered https://t.co/x4Xe7GWXfZ

— Revegnus (@Tech_Reve) March 20, 2023

It is possible that the version A17 Bionic that Apple wanted to be fabricated on the same 3nm process was not successful in terms of power consumption and heat generation, which is why the performance target may have dropped. However, if the technology giant has reached an unscalable obstacle with this silicon, the M3 SoC meant for future Macs may also experience the same setbacks.

At the most, Apple may sacrifice performance for the A17 Bionic and M3, focusing more on energy efficiency. During TSMC’s official announcement of its 3nm plant, the company’s chairman did not talk about performance gains either. However, he did mention that at the same speeds, 3nm chips would exhibit up to 35 percent improved power savings, and that is what Apple’s ultimate goal might be.

We want to state that due to conflicting rumors, our readers treat Revegnus’ tweet with a pinch of salt. TSMC will likely kick off mass production shortly after the second half of 2023, so hopefully, we will get to know more about the A17 Bionic’s and M3’s estimated performance figures then.

News Source: Revegnus