Apple manufacturing partner TSMS announced A16, a 1.6nm process for upcoming chips

Apple manufacturing partners TSMC has announced its newest semiconductor process, advanced packaging, and 3D IC technologies “for powering the next generation of AI innovations with silicon leadership at the Company’s 2024 North America Technology Symposium. 

For example, it debuted A16, which will combine the company’s Super Power Rail architecture with its nanosheet transistors for planned production in 2026. According to TSMC CEO C. C. Wei it improves logic density and performance by dedicating front-side routing resources to signals.

Compared to TSMC’s N2P process, A16 will provide 8-10% speed improvement, 15-20% power reduction at the same speed, and up to 1.10X chip density improvement for data center products. You can almost certainly expect to see it in future Apple Silicon products.