Apple is mass-producing M5 chips that will focus on AI performance
Apple's manufacturing partners have begun mass production of the new M5 chip, according to South Korean press. The chip will be manufactured on TSMC's 3nm node (N3P), which promises a 5% performance increase and 5-10% improvement in power efficiency.
Here's What We Know
Apple is expected to focus on artificial intelligence performance this generation, so we can expect a more powerful NPU. The M4 Neural Engine has a 38 TOPS rating, which is significantly higher than the M3 Engine's 18 TOPS. What's interesting is that some chips in the M5 generation will use a new technology called System-on-Integrated-Chips-molding-Horizontal (SoIC-mH). This is a method of stacking chips and connecting them with copper connectors. This stacking method is expected to improve heat dissipation and provide better performance.
Apple will be the first to launch basic versions of the M5 chip, which will appear in the second half of this year in the new iPad Pro. Later, Apple will also launch Pro, Max and Ultra chips in the M5 series.
Insiders report that several companies will handle chip packaging: ASE (Taiwan) will start with the first batch of mass production, with Amkor (US) and JCET (China) joining for later batches.
Analysts expect the Ultra chip won't be introduced until 2026, so the new Mac Pro and Studio may not arrive this year.
Source: ETNews
