80 MACWORLD MARCH 2020
FEATURE APPLE’S A14 PROCESSORW
e aren’t likely to hear
anything about Apple’s
new phone processor until
September (go.macworld.
com/sp20), when the company unveils the
iPhone 12 (go.macworld.com/12rm). But it
takes years to design these chips and
months to get production ramped up, so
the A14 is likely already set in stone and
has probably begun test production.
Year after year, Apple’s phone chips have
held the crown for overall performance, and
despite some big promises from the likes of
the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 (go.
macworld.com/q865), we expect Apple to
hold the crown when the new iPhones are
released this year.
One can never tell exactly what
features or performance an unannounced
A-series processor will deliver, but we can
make some informed guesses. Here’s
what we think we might see from Apple’s
A14 SoC later this year.
A JUMP TO 5NM
MANUFACTURING
For the third year in a row, Apple will
benefit from manufacturing process
improvements at its manufacturing partner
TSMC. The A12 was built on a 7nm
process, the A13 was made on an
enhanced 7nm process that primarily
allowed for faster clock speeds and lower
power consumption (when running at the
same speeds as chips made with the prior
7nm process).
This year, Apple could make the jump
to TSMC’s brand-new 5nm process. In fact,
it’s likely to be the first large-scale
consumer chip to ship using it.
This is a big upgrade. The 5nm mode
is not a half-step by any stretch, but it is
the next “full node” after 7nm. It uses
extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography
extensively throughout the process, and
TSMC says it delivers 80 percent more
logic density and can run either 15 percent