Apple's M5 Silicon Chip Is Supposedly Going Into Production

According to South Korean media, Apple has started mass producing its next-generation M5 microprocessor, which could be found in devices as early as this year.

According to ET News, last month Apple started packaging the M5 processor. After fabrication, packaging is the last stage of semiconductor manufacture. It entails safeguarding the chip and facilitating electrical connections with other parts or devices.

According to reports, the base M5 model—rather than Apple's more sophisticated M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra processors—will be the subject of the first production run. According to reports, the OSAT businesses listed above are now making investments in new facilities to enable the high-end models' mass production.

According to reports, TSMC's cutting-edge 3-nanometer process technology is being used in the production of the M5 series, which is anticipated to have an improved ARM architecture. Cost reasons are thought to be the reason behind Apple's choice to forgo TSMC's more sophisticated 2nm technology for the M5 processor. The high-end M5 models will still have notable improvements over their M4 counterparts, though, mostly due to the use of TSMC's System on Integrated Chip (SoIC) technology.

Compared to conventional 2D designs, this 3D chip-stacking technique improves thermal management and lowers electrical leakage by stacking the chips vertically. According to reports, Apple and TSMC have deepened their collaboration on the next-generation hybrid SoIC package, which features thermoplastic carbon fibre composite moulding technology as well.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicts that the new iPad Pro, which will go into mass production in late 2025, will be the first gadget to use the M5 chip.

The following are the devices we anticipate benefiting, in chronological order, assuming Apple continues its usual cycle of upgrades for its proprietary silicon:

iPad Pro: Late 2025 or early to mid-2026 may see the introduction of M5 CPUs in the devices.
MacBook Pro: Late 2025 is when models with M5 series CPUs are expected to be released.
Early in 2026, MacBook Air: M5 models are probably going to be available.
Apple Vision Pro: Between the autumn of 2025 and the spring of 2026, an upgraded headset with the M5 chip is anticipated.


Official Apple code has already been found to contain references to what is thought to be Apple's M5 chip. One rumour claims that Apple also intends to implement the M5 chip in its AI server architecture to enhance AI capabilities across consumer devices and cloud services because of its dual-use SoIC design.