TSMC develops 1.6nm chip process, plans mass production in Q4
What's the story
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has completed the development of its angstrom-class 1.6nm chip manufacturing process. The company plans to start mass production in Q4 2026, according to Liberty Times. This is a major leap considering that MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Apple are all set to launch their new chips based on the 2nm process this fall.
Performance upgrade
The new process offers significant improvements over the 2nm process
TSMC's new 1.6nm process is said to offer an 8-10% boost in computing speed and a 15-20% reduction in power consumption over its 2nm process.
The chip density is also expected to be higher by about 8-10%, making it a major upgrade for future devices.
Design innovation
The innovative architecture of the new process
The new 1.6nm process from TSMC comes with an innovative architecture that separates a power network on the back side.
This is directly powered by each transistor's source and drain regions via Vertical Backside Contacts.
The separation of signal wiring from power wiring reduces bottlenecks during data transmission, improving both power efficiency and computing performance significantly.
Market focus
Mainstream chips may have to wait for this upgrade
Despite the impressive specs of its new 1.6nm process, TSMC isn't aiming for the mainstream market just yet.
The company is said to be targeting AI and high-performance computing devices as its main market for these chips.
This means we might not see this advanced tech in phone chips anytime soon, possibly pushing it to 2027.