[News] Apple COO Rumored to Make Secret Visit to TSMC, Booking Advanced Capacity for AI In-house Chips – Press Center | TrendForce – Market research, price trend of DRAM, NAND Flash, LEDs, TFT-LCD and green energy, PV
As Apple keeps advancing in AI as well as developing its own in-house processors, industry sources indicated that the tech giant’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jeff Williams recently made a visit to TSMC, and was personally received by TSMC’s President, C.C. Wei, according a report by Economic Daily News.
The low-profile visit was made to secure TSMC’s advanced manufacturing capacity, potentially 2nm process, booked for Apple’s in-house AI-chips, according to the report.
Apple has been collaborating with TSMC for many years on the A-series processors used in iPhones. In recent years, Apple initiated the long-term Apple Silicon project, creating the M-series processors for MacBook and iPad, with Williams playing a key role. Thus, his recent visit to Taiwan has garnered significant industry attention.
Apple did not respond to the rumor. TSMC, on the other hand, has maintained its usual stance, not commenting on market speculations related to specific customers.
According to an earlier report from The Wallstreet Journal, Apple has been working closely with TSMC to design and produce its own AI chips tailored for data centers in the primary stage. It is suggested that Apple’s server chips may focus on executing AI models, particularly in AI inference, rather than AI training, where NVIDIA’s chips currently dominate.
Also, in a bid to seize the AI PC market opportunity, Apple’s new iPad Pro launched in early May has featured its in-house M4 chip. In an earlier report by Wccftech, Apple’s M4 chip adopts TSMC’s N3E process, aligning with Apple’s plans for a major performance upgrade for Mac.
In addition to Apple, with the flourishing of AI applications, TSMC has also reportedly beening working closely with the other two major AI giants, NVIDIA and AMD. It’s reported by the Economic Daily News that they have secured TSMC’s advanced packaging capacity for CoWoS and SoIC packaging through this year and the next, bolstering TSMC’s AI-related business orders.
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(Photo credit: TSMC)
