Apple's Next Move: Expanding Its Presence in Arizona
Original Article by SemiVision Research
In our previous article, we mentioned that TSMC has significantly increased its investment in the United States. We also highlighted that Apple is the primary customer for Phase 1 in Arizona. In this article, we will focus on Apple's current products and future plans.
However, it’s important to understand that TSMC Arizona’s customer base is very diverse, including Apple, Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Marvell.
Currently, the company in the U.S. capable of entering advanced packaging is Amkor. Everyone can refer to Amkor’s packaging technologies.
Currently, TSMC is planning P1 to P3 as follows. For detailed information, you can refer to the following article.
Why does Apple dominate such a large share? See answer in Paid Area
Today, our focus will be Apple. Currently, Apple’s key products include:
Mobile SoCs (A series)
PC/Notebook SoCs (M series)
Modems (applied in cellular modems)
Wireless components, primarily Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Based on Apple’s entire lineup of electronic products, SemiVision Research has compiled information about the various chip series used across these devices, providing a comprehensive reference for everyone’s understanding.
SemiVision Research will provide a detailed articles for paid members on Apple’s In-House Modem (C1) Performance Analysis and Future Predictions.
The article will cover:
• C1 Chip Architecture Overview: A deep dive into the technical design and features of Apple’s first in-house modem.
• Apple’s Transition to In-House RF Technology: Analyzing Apple’s strategy in shifting towards its own RF process technologies.
• Apple and Qualcomm’s Complex Relationship: Examining the dynamics between Apple and Qualcomm, including collaboration, competition, and Apple’s gradual move away from Qualcomm modems.
• Apple and Broadcom’s Competitive and Cooperative Relationship: Exploring Apple’s evolving relationship with Broadcom, particularly in the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip market, and potential future developments.
For the A series, Apple primarily uses InFO packaging, which is a packaging technology specifically designed for smartphones.
SemiVision Research has a deep understanding of current Apple products, and we are currently focusing on the ASIC segment, understanding design principles and architecture. These are crucial aspects!
Apple is a very innovative company, and they always incorporate new technologies into their chips. For example, the InFO technology was originally designed for Apple. However, due to cost considerations, only Apple has fully implemented InFO design into their mobile APs. In the future of advanced packaging, Apple will not be absent. In fact, future packaging may also present opportunities for SoIC, but the key factor will always be cost considerations, as new technologies are never cheap.
SemiVision Researcher has listed several technological extensions related to InFO, such as InFO-PoP, InFO-M, InFO-SoW (System on Wafer), WMCM, SoIC-mH, and others. In the future, SemiVision Researcher will also conduct a series of studies on advanced packaging.
SemiVision Researcher compiled a summary table to give everyone a basic understanding, and we will dive deeper into this topic in the future.
The evolution of advanced packaging can be simply divided into a few directions. For servers, which refer to AI chips, the main focus is on CoWoS, with CoWoS-L being the dominant mainstream technology. In the case of smartphones, the InFO technology continues to advance. Here, we are starting to see some changes, such as replacing traditional SoC chips with chiplet architectures, along with the integration of 3DIC packaging technology, which represents a new shift.
For the M series, we have also observed that Apple is actively changing its packaging approach. They are moving away from traditional packaging like UltraFusion and shifting toward using SoIC design.
For Paid Subscriber Area:
Why does Apple dominate such a large share?
What is UltraFusion
Concept of InFO-M
Packaging Solution Comparison
Table: Apple Chip Series Summary
Table: Apple Chip Series Summary with Advanced Package
Table: iPhone Production Forecast
Table: Apple iPhone and Android Spec. Comparison
Table: Apple Product Summary
If there are any blank sections in the table and you would like more detailed insights, paid members are welcome to reach out to us via email for further discussion.
We will provide a comprehensive explanation and additional insights upon request.