A new perspective from industry insiders has precluded the possibility of Apple iPhone chips leveraging Intel’s bleeding-edge 14A node.<\/b>
\nIntel has attracted quite a bit of chatter over the past few weeks amid tantalizing prospects of Apple returning to the chipmaker’s embrace for some M-series processors and non-Pro iPhone chips. However, a new perspective from industry insiders has largely precluded the possibility of Apple iPhone chips leveraging Intel’s bleeding-edge nodes.Chips made on Intel’s advanced nodes will sport a degraded heat dissipation ability, precluding Apple’s iPhone chips from leveraging the said nodes
In recent weeks, both GF Securities and DigiTimes have disclosed that Apple might opt for Intel’s 18A-P process for its lowest-end M-series chips that are expected to ship in 2027, as well as non-Pro iPhone chips in 2028. GF Securities also went a step further by noting that Apple’s bespoke ASIC – expected to launch in 2028 – will leverage Intel’s EMIB packaging.
In the same vein, we noted recently that Apple has already signed an NDA with Intel and procured PDK samples of its advanced 18A-P process for evaluation purposes. Do note that Intel’s 18A-P process is its first node to support Foveros Direct 3D hybrid bonding, which allows for stacking multiple chiplets through TSVs.
Now, however, a number of industry insiders, while commenting on the SemiWiki forum, have poured cold water on Intel’s hopes of manufacturing Apple iPhone chips. And, at the heart of this despondent thesis lies the chipmaker’s ill-fated decision to go all-in on Backside Power Delivery (BSPD) for its 18A and 14A nodes.
Basically, unlike TSMC, which offers some nodes with BSPD and others without it, rounding out its overall offerings, Intel has gone all-in on BSPD for its bleeding-edge 18A and 14A nodes.
Of course, BSPD does provide some performance boost as the chip is powered via the shorter, thicker metal paths on the backside, lowering voltage drop and allowing higher and more stable operating frequencies, while freeing up front-side routing tracks, which allows for increased transistor density or reduced congestion and wire length.
However, for mobile chips, the resulting performance boost from this approach is quite small. And, the approach results in a worse Self-Heating Effect (SHE), requiring additional cooling for the die. In fact, the requisite heatsink has to be „kept around 20C cooler with BSPD for the same die temperature in hotspots (because vertical heat spreading is bad but lateral is even worse now there’s no thick silicon substrate), and that’s simply impossible in many use cases which rely on air cooling or have a maximum allowable case temperature.“ (Read IanD’s comments in this thread).
Due to these troubling thermal issues, the industry insiders believe that there is „zero chance“ that Intel would get to manufacture Apple iPhone chips anytime soon, as highlighted by Jukan in his commentary on X. Of course, M-series processors might still be a possibility.
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