Apple M5: New SoC Reportedly in Production

Apple is gearing up to launch its next-generation M5 chip, with mass production now reportedly underway. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Apple’s primary chip supplier, has commenced large-scale production of the M5 processor, according to reports from South Korean technology publication ET News.

The new chip is said to bring significant improvements in AI performance. Since January, several partner companies have been involved in packaging the chips—placing them onto their substrates and conducting final tests. The packaging process is currently being handled by ASE from Taiwan, Amkor from the United States, and JCET from China. While ASE and Amkor have already started their part of the process, JCET is expected to join later.

3nm Process and 3D Chip Stacking

At this stage, only the base version of the M5 chip is in production. It is expected to debut in the MacBook Pro M5 later this year and may even appear first in a new iPad Pro M5. More powerful versions, such as the M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra, are expected to follow in the future.

Unlike some earlier speculations, the M5 is not being manufactured using TSMC’s 2nm process. Instead, Apple has opted to remain with TSMC’s 3nm technology due to cost considerations. However, minor improvements are expected through the N3P manufacturing process, which offers either a 5% increase in clock speeds or a 10% reduction in power consumption compared to the previous N3E process. TSMC used N3E to manufacture Apple’s current M4 chips.

A more substantial technological leap could come with the higher-end M5 variants, such as the M5 Pro and beyond. Apple is reportedly planning to use TSMC’s “System on Integrated Chips” (SoIC) technology for the first time, which enables stacking multiple chips on top of each other. This could allow for a range of enhancements, including additional cache or DRAM on the processor, or even vertically stacked CPU and GPU components.

Uncertainty Over Apple’s Timeline

Apple’s roadmap for the M5’s release remains unclear. With the M4 series, the company first introduced the chip in the iPad Pro before rolling it out in MacBook Pro models later in the year. However, not all Macs have transitioned to M4 yet—MacBook Air, for instance, is still running on the M3 chip from 2023. The shift to M4 is expected to happen in early 2025.

A MacBook Air model featuring the M5 chip is therefore unlikely to arrive for at least another year. Additionally, Apple may consider equipping the second-generation Vision Pro headset with the M5, though the release date for this remains unknown. The current Vision Pro model, powered by the M2 chip, was launched in February 2024 and has been available for just over a year.