Apple's New Lineup Drives Full Orders for TSMC

Recently, reports from the supply chain indicate that Apple has issued additional production orders for its upcoming iPhone 17 series, sparking strong momentum across Taiwan's semiconductor industry. Market watchers expect TSMC to be the primary beneficiary, as Apple's next-generation A19 chip will be manufactured using TSMC's advanced 3nm N3P process, which continues to operate at full capacity.

Beyond smartphones, Apple is also preparing new releases for its MacBook, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro lineups. These devices will feature Apple's M5 chips, built on TSMC's N3E process, while the company's in-house Modem and Wi-Fi chips will use 4nm and 6nm nodes, respectively.

Assembly partners reveal that Apple plans to increase iPhone 17 production by over 3 million units compared to last year's iPhone 16 shipments in Q4, reaching a total of about 62 million units. The production surge has already been felt by upstream wafer manufacturers, as TSMC's advanced fabrication lines are now running at full utilization to meet Apple's expanding portfolio.

Looking ahead, Apple's next-generation A20 chip—set for 2026—will adopt TSMC's 2nm process, marking another milestone in their deep collaboration. TSMC is ramping up preparations at its Kaohsiung Fab 22, which has already entered trial production, while advanced WMCM packaging capacity is being built out at its Longtan AP3 facility.

The AP3 site will upgrade its existing InFO lines, expected to account for about 70% of the total WMCM capacity, with Chiayi AP7 serving as an expansion hub. Equipment purchases are already underway, including nearly 100 chip sorters for Pick & Place operations. As chip designs increasingly shift toward chiplet architectures, 2.5D and 3D packaging are becoming more complex—driving demand for defoaming and encapsulation technologies to improve yield and reliability.

Industry analysts note that Apple's upcoming M6 chip will also utilize the 2nm process, potentially tightening capacity even further. Equipment makers project WMCM production could reach 70,000–80,000 wafers per month by late 2026, and expand to 130,000–140,000 wafers per month in 2027, effectively doubling growth in advanced packaging capacity following CoWoS.

While AI chips have dominated headlines, Apple's consumer products continue to provide stable, large-scale demand. Analysts emphasize that Apple remains TSMC's largest client, and as the company accelerates its Apple Silicon strategy to reduce reliance on third-party chip vendors, TSMC stands out as the clear long-term winner in this expanding partnership.