Apple Watch chips are being made in the US for the first time

Apple is increasing its presence in the U.S. manufacturing sector: The S9 chip for the Apple Watch is now being manufactured at TSMC's Arizona plant.

According to technology analyst Tim Kulpan, TSMC has begun production of the S9 System-in-Package (SiP) chip at its Fab 21 facility near Phoenix. Earlier, the same plant began production of A16 Bionic chips for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.

Production features

The S9 chip will debut in the Apple Watch Series 9 in late 2023. It is based on the computing characteristics of the A16 Bionic chip and is manufactured using TSMC's 4-nanometer process called “N4”. The shared technology base allowed TSMC to quickly adapt the production line in Arizona to produce the S9 together with the A16.

Although the production of Apple Watch Series 9 has already been completed, the S9 chip continues to be used in the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which appeared on the market at the same time as Series 9.

Arizona plant: ambitions and current status

Fab 21 is TSMC's first major manufacturing facility outside of Taiwan. Currently, the plant is in an early stage of development, but the scale of production is growing rapidly. Within the current phase (Phase 1A), the plant is able to process about 10,000 plates (wafers) per month. These wafers are used for the production of A16, S9 chips, as well as other customers, including AMD.

Completion of Phase 1B early this year is expected to double the plant's production capacity to 24,000 wafers per month. Each wafer can contain hundreds of chips depending on their size, design and manufacturing efficiency.

Perspectives

U.S. production of the S9 chips signals increased efforts by Apple and TSMC to expand production capacity outside of Asia. It also demonstrates the company's desire to reduce dependence on Taiwan amid growing global tensions.