Apple's 3nm M3 processor is not expected in the short term, sources say the N3 Ibiza project has been cancelled

Digital blogger @MobileChipDude from Taiwan's chip industry chain says TSMC has decided to abandon the N3 process internally because customers are almost unwilling to use it, including Apple, and will shift to the N3E process for mass production in the second half of 2023. Because of the high cost of N3, N3E is more cost-effective.

In addition, because Apple is not satisfied with the performance of the first project based on the N3 process Ibiza, so Apple has canceled it, so users will not see the end product to build 3nm M3 chip in the short term.

Sources say Apple has already started the core design work of "M3", which will be released in the second half of 2023 at the earliest.

The chip, internally codenamed "Malma", will be based on TSMC's N3E for mass production. Compared to the N5, the N3 offers up to 15 percent performance improvement and up to 30 percent energy efficiency improvement, and the N3E will further extend these differences.

In addition, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple suppliers will begin mass production of the new 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models in the fourth quarter of 2022, and all devices will likely continue to be equipped with 5nm chips.

He said that Apple's chip manufacturing partner TSMC will not start shipping 3nm chips until January 2023, so he expects the new MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models to stick with 5nm chips.

The new iPad Pro with the M2 chip is expected to be released in October, but the release date for the new MacBook Pro models is not yet clear. it has been rumored that the new MacBook Pro will be released later this year, but there are also some rumors pointing to a 2023 release.

The new MacBook Pro is expected to come with the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, which are still expected to be 5nm process. In addition to future Macs and iPads, the A17 Bionic chip in next year's iPhone 15 Pro is also expected to be equipped with a 3nm chip, so stay tuned.