TSMC to Produce 4nm Chips at Arizona Fab in 2024

News of TSMC’s plans comes from notable Apple reporter Mark Gurman and company of Bloomberg. Previously TSMC was expected to start production of 5nm chips in Arizona, but it has apparently jettisoned that notion in favor of N4 production, which is a more advanced version of its process. It still falls under the 5nm family of products but offers improved efficiency and performance. The company is investing $12 billion into the fab in order to get production started by 2024. It will reportedly announce its plans next week during a presser with President Joe Biden and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Apple CEO Tim Cook will be at the event as well.

TSMC is rumored to be only taking baby steps with its new fab, however. It’ll supposedly be cranking out just 20,000 wafers a month, and Apple is expected to claim about a third of that output, which is table scraps for both companies. TSMC currently produces 1.3 million wafers a month from its Taiwan facilities, so the latest news reinforces the “symbolic gesture” label a Bloomberg opinion writer had called the move. Still, it will give companies access to an advanced node producing American-made chips. TSMC will also be adding a second plant nearby that will handle some 3nm production in the future. However, no timeline was given for when that facility would begin manufacturing.

The move by TSMC marks the first time the company will produce some of its more advanced products outside of Taiwan. This will likely give the company some resiliency against the worst-case scenario of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The US government also passed the CHIPS Act earlier this year to bolster efforts by companies producing semiconductors in the United States. The act provides billions in subsidies for both fab expansion and R&D. However, TSMC seems to be intent on keeping its most advanced node under its own roof in Taiwan. It’s just now beginning production at 3nm, and by 2024 that will likely be the main product it’s offering to partners such as Apple, AMD, and Nvidia.

Continue reading

NASA: Asteroid Could Still Hit Earth in 2068

This skyscraper-sized asteroid might still hit Earth in 2068, according to a new analysis from the University of Hawaii and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

MSI’s Nvidia RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio Review: 2080 Ti Performance, Pascal Pricing

Nvidia's new RTX 3070 is a fabulous GPU at a good price, and the MSI RTX 3070 Gaming X Trio shows it off well.

Nvidia: RTX 3000 GPUs Will Remain Hard to Find Into 2021

There's no hope for a near-term improvement in RTX 3000 GPU availability. Shortages will likely continue through the end of this year and into the beginning of 2021.

SpaceX Starlink Beta Could Expand As Soon As January 2021

SpaceX has been launching Starlink internet satellites for the last 18 months or so, and all they managed to do for most of that time is tick off astronomers. However, the first users have been able to log onto SpaceX's Starlink internet service, and their impressions are good. This is just a small beta test, but SpaceX is apparently planning a wider test early next year.