TSMC paves way for 5nm SoCs

[DrMacintosh]

TSMC has announced the delivery of the complete version of its 5nm design. 

Quote

"This full release enables 5nm systems-on-chip (SoC) designs in next-generation advanced mobile and high-performance computing (HPC) applications, targeting high-growth 5G and artificial intelligence markets."- Digitimes

This means that companies like Apple and Qualcomm can begin development of their next generation of SoCs. The Apple A-Series has always been industry leading and it will be great to see what power efficiency gains can he had by going from 7nm to 5nm. I'm sure Qualcomm can show a great hustle to catch up to the A-Series as well. 

 

In my view it's unlikely that we will see much of any focus on performance improvements and rather 5nm will be focused entirely on bringing down the power cost and heat output of the chips. SoCs like the A12 Bionic are already far more powerful than any average consumer could ever hope to utilize, so it only makes sense that Apple and others will continue to refine their "high efficiency cores" to bring their single threaded performance up while reducing or keeping power consumption the same. 

 

It does appear though that 5nm will have to be validated in some way and TSMC has committed to working closely with their partners when designing new silicon:

Quote

“TSMC’s 5-nanometer technology offers our customers the industry’s most advanced logic process to address the exponentially growing demand for computing power driven by AI and 5G,” said Cliff Hou, VP of R&D and technology development at TSMC. “5-nanometer technology requires deeper design-technology co-optimization. Therefore, we collaborate seamlessly with our ecosystem partners to ensure we deliver silicon-validated IP blocks and EDA tools ready for customer use. As always, we are committed to helping customers achieve first-time silicon success and faster time-to-market.”

 

We will not see any 5nm silicon on any 2019 phones however, 5nm is slated for 2020 as of right now, which is around the time when 5G will be relevant. 

 

Source: https://www.cultofmac.com/618004/apple-can-start-designing-its-5nm-a-series-chips/#more-618004

[Firewrath9]

i saw this on saturday lol.

Wonder whats next after 5nm. 3nm seems like the physical limit, perhaps we will start seeing huge dies.

Remember when intel 10nm was supposed to come out in 2016? ahhhhhhh.

[jiyeon]

12 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

In my view it's unlikely that we will see much of any focus on performance improvements and rather 5nm will be focused entirely on bringing down the power cost and heat output of the chips. SoCs like the A12 Bionic are already far more powerful than any average consumer could ever hope to utilize, so it only makes sense that Apple and others will continue to refine their "high efficiency cores" to bring their single threaded performance up while reducing or keeping power consumption the same. 

My iPhone 6s sitting on a 14nm Apple A9 can vouch for that statement. The thing's about 85% on par with my Samsung S8 on a 10nm Exynos 8895.

[DrMacintosh]

2 minutes ago, seoz said:

My iPhone 6s sitting on a 14nm Apple A9 can vouch for that statement.

Yep, the A9 is still a very competent SoC. I've had no complaints with my 6s Plus even 3 years years later. It just sucks power because it's a dual core with high clocks. Not a single high efficiency core to be found.

[WereCat]

11 minutes ago, Firewrath9 said:

i saw this on saturday lol.

Wonder whats next after 5nm. 3nm seems like the physical limit, perhaps we will start seeing huge dies.

Remember when intel 10nm was supposed to come out in 2016? ahhhhhhh.

I doubt that we will see big dies. The yields would be so low that the price would be extremely high. 

Chiplets will have to do. Maybe stacking as well but that one will be more difficult for CPUs/GPUs than on NAND. 

This is perfect for mobile SoC because they need very small dies, it will take many months until this can be used on desktop in any feasible way. 

[williamcll]

But will high end chips be cheaper?

[yian88]

47 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

The Apple A-Series has always been industry leading and it will be great to see what power efficiency gains can he had by going from 7nm to 5nm. I'm sure Qualcomm can show a great hustle to catch up to the A-Series as well. 

 

I dont think qualcom has to catch up apple at all, they are delivery high performance cost effective SoC's, and i hope they continue to do so.

Their 845, 855 chips are as good as they get, i dont see a need for more performance, just because apple is 10-15% ahead in benchmarks means exactly nothing, its the features, phone experience and battery that matters.

I hope to see POCO F2 with 855 SD  under 400$ by 2020.

[Stefan Payne]

 

Hui, another Fab doesn't get 10nm running, while the Taiwanese guys are working on 5nm.

That might be a problem...

1 hour ago, DrMacintosh said:

This means that companies like Apple and Qualcomm can begin development of their next generation of SoCs.

 

Don't forget AMD, they will also use 5nm ASAP.

Or rather as soon as its financially viable...

Or someone wants 5nm for a custom design and is willing to pay the premium

[mr moose]

Here is another source:

https://fudzilla.com/news/mobile/47655-5nm-mobile-chips-in-late-2020

 

 

Although I did read last year that IBM 5nm was going to quadruple battery life on mobile devices, which means for the same battery life we should be seeing a huge improvement in speed or a decent improvement in cheaper phones. 

 

Samsung was supposed to be releasing chips on 5nm this year though, so it may just be ram chips they are making.

 

[Doobeedoo]

They're continuing shrinking the process at a steady pace. Nice.