In yet another report from DigiTimes, the Taiwanese outlet believes that TSMC will manufacture Intel’s Core-class CPUs using its 3nm node. Sources close to the outlet claim that the two companies have already struck such a deal. As per Taiwanese media, the volume production for these products will start in the second half of 2022. There have been 3-4 other reports that have claimed something along the same lines in the past months:
- TSMC Expected to Produce 5nm Intel CPUs in H1 2022
- TSMC to Reportedly Fab Intel’s Core i3 CPUs in 2022 on 5nm EUV Process
- Intel Alder Lake Successor to be Fabbed on TSMC’s 3nm and 5nm Nodes
- TSMC Expected to Start New Foundry to Supply Intel w/ 4nm Chips: Deployment no Earlier than 2023
To top it off, all these reports are from reputed outlets such as Bloomberg, TrentForce, and TNT. All these rumors point to the fact the Alder Lake-S successor, the 13th Gen Core lineup will be fabbed on TSMC’s sub-5nm for the higher-end parts and 5nm for the lower-end Core i3 and Pentium|Celeron range.
However, at the same time, another report from DT just yesterday claimed that Intel has yet to sign any major sub-5nm outsourcing deal with TSMC. As per Intel’s new CEO, the company will make “most of its high-end CPUs” at its own foundries starting from 2023. That leaves a gap of one year when the company could deploy chips fabbed by TSMC’s advanced foundries, but it’s hard to be sure at this point. We’ll just have to wait for some more official info from Intel regarding its outsourcing strategy.
