Apple’s access to advanced chips may be improving as production yields on TSMC’s 2nm process rise. Leaked estimates cited in the source put the N2 yield at close to 90%, compared with around 60% in March 2025. TSMC does not publish yield figures for its manufacturing processes, so the estimates have not been officially confirmed by the company.
The N2 process is used for advanced Apple system-on-chips in products including the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone Duo and iMac 2026, according to the source. Apple is gradually moving more of its product portfolio to the technology, but limited capacity at TSMC’s most advanced manufacturing nodes has constrained the availability of its higher-end chips.
A stronger yield means more working chips can be produced from each wafer, potentially easing pressure on TSMC and customers such as Apple, Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm. DigiTimes reports that Apple has acknowledged an improvement in the situation and is shifting more of its products to the process.
However, better 2nm yields have not removed wider supply problems. Demand from AI data centers is taking up capacity at leading-edge nodes, while Apple has also faced constraints affecting production of iPhones, Macs and iPads. The company expects those limits to continue weighing on Mac and iPad production in the final quarter of 2026, and has attributed the issue to memory-chip availability.
Sources: Xataka.