TSMC gas contamination incident sparks fears of delays for MacBook Pro 2021 and iPhone 13

Date:
Fri, 30 Jul 2021 16:31:34 +0000

Description:
The chipmaking facility affected is where Apples SoCs for upcoming Macs and iPhones are made.

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A TSMC chipmaking facility or fab has been the victim of contamination of a gas used in the process of making Apple SoCs for Macs and iPhones, leading to worries over whether this could foreshadow a delay of the purportedly
incoming revamped MacBook Pro models built around Apples own silicon not to mention the iPhone 13 .

The contamination occurred at Fab 18, which is TSMCs most advanced chip manufacturing plant, as Nikkei Asia reports, and its where processors for future Macs and iPhones presumably including the rumored redesigned MacBook Pros with the M1 successor chip, possibly called the M1X are made.

Indeed, the report observes that Apple is readying components to start production on new Mac and iPhones by the close of August. These are the best laptops around And the best Macs to buy this year Don't want a Mac? Check out the best Ultrabooks

TSMC told Nikkei: Some TSMC production lines in the South Taiwan Science Park received certain gases from suppliers that are believed to be contaminated. These were quickly replaced with other gas supplies.

TSMC said that the problem was in hand, and the chipmaker added that it was engaging in follow-up operations to ensure production quality off the lines
is maintained. TSMC further said that it doesnt expect that this will have a significant impact on the flow of chips. Analysis: Contamination clean-up is
a really serious business

While this gas contamination incident appears to be in hand, the concern is that these kind of mishaps can have potentially major repercussions, and theres plenty of chatter and speculation online about possible delays for Apples laptops and smartphones.

Chipmaking fabs are extremely sensitive environments with huge precautions taken not to introduce even a sliver of a speck of contamination, so even
what sounds like a relatively minor issue could be bad news. Note that TSMC only has an expectation of this not causing any significant delay in terms of production schedules at this point, and theres (unsurprisingly) no firm indication of exactly how extensive clean-up operations might have to be.

We should not jump to any conclusions, naturally, but its easy to see how
this could cause some folks out there to worry over a potential MacBook Pro 2021 or iPhone 13 delay. Particularly when just before this happened, earlier this week, Apple came out and said that supply shortages had already hampered Mac and iPad sales , and that iPhones could suffer later in 2021, with
perhaps the iPhone 13 launch negatively impacted. All of this, of course, is happening against a general background of component shortages.

Earlier this year, we were hopeful to see the overhauled MacBook Pro models arrive this summer , but the grapevine now points to a late 2021 launch, with production to start supposedly in Q3 (late August certainly fits with that speculation). Hopefully this rumored timeframe will still remain on track. Shop all the latest MacBook Pro deals and sales

Via MacRumors



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/tsmc-gas-contamination-incident-sparks-fears-of -delays-for-macbook-pro-2021-and-iphone-13/


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