Industry sources reveal that TSMC has recently informed key clients — including Apple — of its plan to increase wafer fabrication costs for all process technologies at 5nm and below beginning in 2026. The anticipated price adjustment is expected to fall within the range of 8% to 10%.
This move comes amid continued strong global demand for cutting-edge semiconductors, particularly in sectors like artificial intelligence, high-performance computing (HPC), and premium smartphones. To keep up with this surge, TSMC has been allocating more production capacity and engineering resources toward its most advanced nodes. However, the company now anticipates that it will need to implement annual price increases on these high-end process technologies over the next several years to manage capacity and R&D investments.
At present, TSMC is gearing up for the commercial rollout of its next-generation 2nm process. Compared to the existing 3nm technology, the newer node is significantly more complex and expensive to produce. Early estimates suggest that the cost per 2nm wafer could hit approximately $30,000 — nearly double that of older nodes — due to both elevated manufacturing expenses and relatively low initial yields. These factors leave little margin for price reductions, meaning early adopters will likely face steep per-unit costs.
As a result, industry watchers expect that Apple’s first 2nm mobile processor, rumored to be the A20 chip slated for the iPhone 18 lineup, could carry a per-chip cost of roughly $280. This would make it the priciest single component in the device. Unless Apple decides to raise consumer prices, these higher chip costs could eat into its profit margins. To mitigate risk, Apple is reportedly considering limiting the use of 2nm chips to only its top-tier iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models.
Beyond Apple, AMD has also announced plans to release its next-generation server CPU, the EPYC “Venice,” and high-end GPU, the Instinct MI400, both built on TSMC’s 2nm process, with availability expected in 2026.
TSMC’s latest financial results for Q3 2025 show that advanced process technologies already constitute 74% of its overall production mix. Specifically, the 5nm node accounts for 37%, while 3nm makes up 23% — up from 69% for all advanced nodes in 2024. With the 2nm node entering mass production this year and showing promising market interest, analysts project that the share of revenue derived from leading-edge nodes could climb to approximately 75% for the full year 2025.