5 ms·

This is in Santa Clara, probably quite close to many HN regulars https://maps.app.goo.gl/WjLPzwrGvqoivBFT9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/WjLPzwrGvqoivBFT9 I personal

This is in Santa Clara, probably quite close to many HN regulars https://maps.app.goo.gl/WjLPzwrGvqoivBFT9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/WjLPzwrGvqoivBFT9 I personally wonder if this is why I have been occasionally smelling weird chemical odors from time to time. I live about 7 miles away, so probably not, but maybe.

insaneirish 2y ago
Let's go with "definitely not", given the amount of other things that could be within a 7 mile radius of your location. The blog paints this as some secret lair of nefarious experiments. It actually refers to the facility as a "Secret Silicon Fab" which is quite the logical leap. I would suspect they're etching PCBs, perhaps? One thing is for sure, it's not a silicon fab. I'm sorry, but if you're going to come with grandiose claims, your foundation should be solid and not hypothetical.
- Reason077 2y ago
  > "One thing is for sure, it's not a silicon fab." Why do you say that? Yes, the EPA report seems to be redacted to obscure what they're actually doing there. But there are multiple reports, some from Apple employees, that refer to it as a being some sort of small scale, "skunkworks" silicon fab.
  - insaneirish 2y ago
    > Why do you say that? Mainly because Apple's custom silicon could not even be prototyped in a small scale facility. It'd likely be in Taiwan. > But there are multiple reports, some from Apple employees, that refer to it as a being some sort of small scale, "skunkworks" silicon fab. I apologize if I missed them. Please highlight. Curious of the credentials of the folks reporting such a thing, as well.
    - talldayo 2y ago
      > It'd likely be in Taiwan. For sampling new nodes and producing the bulk of their chips, sure. But anything that's not tied to ASML doesn't inherently need to take place in Taiwan. TSMC is in a hugely advantaged position with IP and scalability, but I think it's feasible that Apple could test new lithography techniques or large-scale dies in any sort of environment they choose. Nobody is necessarily implying that they're prototyping low-yield iPhone hardware there.
    - jhanschoo 2y ago
      It seems obvious to me that not every prototype needs to be done in TSMC's factories, and there are things that you can validate with cheaper processes.
    - joezydeco 2y ago
      Apple uses lots of other chips in the products besides the M-class mega processors being built at TSMC. Think of peripherals and MFI authentication chips.
    - PROgrammerTHREE 2y ago
      https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/60155-123531-000-lede-Apple-Santa-Clara-xl.jpg https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/60155-123531-000-le... This is clearly not a factory. And Bloomberg reported in 2018 that's where they've been prototyping their microLED display screens. https://www.siliconvalley.com/2018/03/19/apple-secretly-developing-screens-in-unmarked-santa-clara-facility-report/ https://www.siliconvalley.com/2018/03/19/apple-secretly-deve... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/apple-is-said-to-develop-displays-to-replace-samsung-screens https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/apple-is-...
  - PROgrammerTHREE 2y ago
    According to numerous sources, it's microLED display screens that are made there: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/apple-is-said-to-develop-displays-to-replace-samsung-screens https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/apple-is-... https://www.siliconvalley.com/2018/03/19/apple-secretly-developing-screens-in-unmarked-santa-clara-facility-report/ https://www.siliconvalley.com/2018/03/19/apple-secretly-deve...
    - Reason077 2y ago
      This makes sense. A lot of the chemicals listed in the reports are those used in chip fabrication, but I'd imagine the same ones are also used in microLED fabrication.

insaneirish 2y ago

Let's go with "definitely not", given the amount of other things that could be within a 7 mile radius of your location. The blog paints this as some secret lair of nefarious experiments. It actually refers to the facility as a "Secret Silicon Fab" which is quite the logical leap. I would suspect they're etching PCBs, perhaps? One thing is for sure, it's not a silicon fab. I'm sorry, but if you're going to come with grandiose claims, your foundation should be solid and not hypothetical.

Reason077 2y ago
> "One thing is for sure, it's not a silicon fab." Why do you say that? Yes, the EPA report seems to be redacted to obscure what they're actually doing there. But there are multiple reports, some from Apple employees, that refer to it as a being some sort of small scale, "skunkworks" silicon fab.
- insaneirish 2y ago
  > Why do you say that? Mainly because Apple's custom silicon could not even be prototyped in a small scale facility. It'd likely be in Taiwan. > But there are multiple reports, some from Apple employees, that refer to it as a being some sort of small scale, "skunkworks" silicon fab. I apologize if I missed them. Please highlight. Curious of the credentials of the folks reporting such a thing, as well.
  - talldayo 2y ago
    > It'd likely be in Taiwan. For sampling new nodes and producing the bulk of their chips, sure. But anything that's not tied to ASML doesn't inherently need to take place in Taiwan. TSMC is in a hugely advantaged position with IP and scalability, but I think it's feasible that Apple could test new lithography techniques or large-scale dies in any sort of environment they choose. Nobody is necessarily implying that they're prototyping low-yield iPhone hardware there.
  - jhanschoo 2y ago
    It seems obvious to me that not every prototype needs to be done in TSMC's factories, and there are things that you can validate with cheaper processes.
  - joezydeco 2y ago
    Apple uses lots of other chips in the products besides the M-class mega processors being built at TSMC. Think of peripherals and MFI authentication chips.
  - PROgrammerTHREE 2y ago
    https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/60155-123531-000-lede-Apple-Santa-Clara-xl.jpg https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/60155-123531-000-le... This is clearly not a factory. And Bloomberg reported in 2018 that's where they've been prototyping their microLED display screens. https://www.siliconvalley.com/2018/03/19/apple-secretly-developing-screens-in-unmarked-santa-clara-facility-report/ https://www.siliconvalley.com/2018/03/19/apple-secretly-deve... https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/apple-is-said-to-develop-displays-to-replace-samsung-screens https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/apple-is-...
- PROgrammerTHREE 2y ago
  According to numerous sources, it's microLED display screens that are made there: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/apple-is-said-to-develop-displays-to-replace-samsung-screens https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/apple-is-... https://www.siliconvalley.com/2018/03/19/apple-secretly-developing-screens-in-unmarked-santa-clara-facility-report/ https://www.siliconvalley.com/2018/03/19/apple-secretly-deve...
  - Reason077 2y ago
    This makes sense. A lot of the chemicals listed in the reports are those used in chip fabrication, but I'd imagine the same ones are also used in microLED fabrication.