On: Intel outsources Core i3 to TSMC's 5nm process

[vittore]

Isn't AMD even bigger client of TSMC 5nm facilities than Apple?

[zamadatix → vittore]

Apple booked 80% of TSMC 5nm for 2021. AMD hasn't even started making 5nm CPUs this year while Apple has been shipping them to consumers since September of last year.

[jjoonathan → vittore]

I don't know about volume, but Apple sure has more margin.

Outsourcing fabrication doesn't guarantee that you can choose the best fab, it just guarantees that you get to compete with Apple (and NVidia and, now, Intel) in a contest of "who can pay the most per chip."

[Symmetry → vittore]

Currently AMD is only buying 7nm. It should have 5nm products this year but I'd be very surprised if it could match Apple's volume.

[jagger27 → Symmetry]

They'll probably shift to 6nm (7nm++, basically) next.

[zamadatix → jagger27]

No need to speculate, AMD has said and released slides showing they plan on shifting to 5 nm next. They've also booked some of the production.