Am I way out of line to assume TSMC will be well past the capability of this fab when in finally comes on line? Not when the current schedule says it will be ready but when the first actual production wafer comes out of the factory.
Perhaps, though fab advancements everywhere have slowed to a crawl. TSMC might not be significantly more advanced than what it is today when this fab comes online.
I believe we are rapidly approaching the end of miniaturization. Even now, node sizes are mostly fabricated just to keep advertising smaller numbers.
I agree, there's definitely more percentages to gain and possibly even new fab techniques that can result in more densely packed chips using less power.
However, those will (likely) be exploitable regardless of when the fab was built. The limiting factor isn't likely going to be the fab equipment so much as the techniques used.
That's where I don't know that bigger better fabs is going to be the arms race that it has traditionally been.
> Am I way out of line to assume TSMC will be well past the capability of this fab when in finally comes on line?
Maybe, but Apple will own all of that advanced capacity. Those of us who have not bought into the Apple ecosystem will have to slum it with lesser chip processes, which this fab will help with the demand for.
