TSMC’s Fab 21 in Arizona is progressively ramping up manufacturing, and lately it started to fabricate a few of AMD’s Ryzen 9000-series processors for consumer PCs in addition to some components of Apple’s S9 system-in-package (SiP) for good watches, experiences Tim Culpan, a well-connected journalist, citing his personal sources.
If the knowledge is correct, then TSMC’s Fab 21 within the U.S. is now producing at the least three chips: Apple’s A16 Bionic system-on-chip for iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus smartphones, at the least one IC within the Apple S9 SiP for good watches (we presume that is the precise utility processor with two 64-bit cores and a quad-core neural engine), and one among AMD’s Ryzen 9000-series CPU. The entire mentioned processors are made utilizing TSMC’s 4nm-class N4 and N4P applied sciences.
Tim Culpan experiences that TSMC makes “Grand Rapids” CPU for AMD and that is definitely not a codename that we have now heard of earlier than. It’s completely doable that AMD makes use of a beforehand unknown silicon — maybe that includes particular capabilities and aimed toward choose functions — to check TSMC’s Fab 21 in Arizona. Nonetheless, it makes extra sense to check a brand new fab with a well-recognized silicon. Furthermore, contemplating that Culpan sources are from Taiwan and lots of communications occur verbally, it’s doable that a few of the sources made a slip of the tongue and referred to as Granite Ridge as Grand Rapids. Granite Ridge is after all a well-recognized silicon for AMD.
TSMC’s Fab 21 part 1 is projected to formally begin operations within the first half of 2025 and Culpan experiences that by now all of the instruments within the Section 1A have been put in and are getting used to make chips. At this level, manufacturing capability of the ability is 10,000 wafer begins monthly. Nonetheless, Section 1B is ‘going through tooling bottlenecks,’ in accordance with Culpan. This doesn’t essentially imply delays as some instruments could also be put in earlier and the others later. Nonetheless, this clearly impacts capability as Section 1B reportedly has a capability of 14,000 WSPM.
Because it seems, Fab 21 remains to be understaffed, in accordance with Culpan. This week, TSMC internally invited Taiwan workers to use for a couple of hundred roles in Arizona, together with fab operations and tools set up, Culpan experiences citing his sources. Whereas the corporate aims to prioritize local hiring, this transfer displays the challenges of staffing the brand new facility. Regardless of native hires now outnumbering overseas (Taiwanese) workers in Arizona, pulling a whole bunch from headquarters highlights the continued difficulties.