4 ms·

I don't know much about semi conductors. maybe i'm just an old dinosaur. But, why is the whole world so hellbent on getting the very latest chips? Couldn't w

I don't know much about semi conductors. maybe i'm just an old dinosaur. But, why is the whole world so hellbent on getting the very latest chips? Couldn't we just make do with 10 year old chip designs? My Iphone6 can do just about everything that my wife's latest iphone11 can do (at least that a casual observer can see). Cars from 10 years ago were'nt that different from now (other than buttons being replaced with screens), etc. The nintendo from the 90s is just as entertaining as the latest nintendo, etc.

Melatonic 4y ago
Generally smaller nanometre designs are a lot more power efficient. Your old iPhone will do just fine yes - but imagine if it had twice the battery life? Now why they just keep massively increasing power as efficiency goes up is beyond me......I think a lot of people would love a new iPhone with a processor a bit faster than your old iPhone 6 but with insane battery life.
s3p 4y ago
It's not necessarily about having the latest chip tech from a consumer perspective but more about TSMC's business demand. Businesses like Apple are only signing contracts for the best chip designs, and they are a massive customer for TSMC. Moving production to the US is great because it means apple has a more reliable supply source in the wake of increasing China/Taiwan tensions. It makes sense for TSMC as well because Apple and others were considering alternative manufactureres (Intel) in the wake of those political problems. But as for regular consumers, I think you're right. Most of us don't care whether we have a 10nm or 4nm chip in our devices, we just need good battery life.
astrange 4y ago
iPhone 11 is 3 years old, but I think you’d be able to spot the difference as soon as you used the camera. Cars from 2012 didn’t have modern safety features, backup cameras, weren’t electric, the radios were 1-line LCDs, etc.

Melatonic 4y ago

Generally smaller nanometre designs are a lot more power efficient. Your old iPhone will do just fine yes - but imagine if it had twice the battery life? Now why they just keep massively increasing power as efficiency goes up is beyond me......I think a lot of people would love a new iPhone with a processor a bit faster than your old iPhone 6 but with insane battery life.

s3p 4y ago

It's not necessarily about having the latest chip tech from a consumer perspective but more about TSMC's business demand. Businesses like Apple are only signing contracts for the best chip designs, and they are a massive customer for TSMC. Moving production to the US is great because it means apple has a more reliable supply source in the wake of increasing China/Taiwan tensions. It makes sense for TSMC as well because Apple and others were considering alternative manufactureres (Intel) in the wake of those political problems. But as for regular consumers, I think you're right. Most of us don't care whether we have a 10nm or 4nm chip in our devices, we just need good battery life.

astrange 4y ago

iPhone 11 is 3 years old, but I think you’d be able to spot the difference as soon as you used the camera. Cars from 2012 didn’t have modern safety features, backup cameras, weren’t electric, the radios were 1-line LCDs, etc.