TSMC will be ramping up mass production of N2-based chips at brand-new fabs, which is always a bit tricky. What is noteworthy is that the company will ramp production of both smartphone and larger 'AI' and 'HPC' designs at new fabs (note that HPC is a vague term that describes everything from game console SoCs all the way to heavy-duty server CPUs), which will add some additional complexities. Normally, TSMC ramps new nodes with mobile and small consumer designs.
Ramping up two N2-capable fabs at once is a result of strong interest for the new process technology by a variety of TSMC partners, so it needs to offer decent capacity for all of them. Furthermore, starting late 2026, both fabs will be used to build chips on N2P, a performance-enhanced version of N2, and A16, a version of N2P with the Super Power Rail backside power delivery that is aimed at complex AI and HPC processors.
"With our strategy of continuous enhancements, we will also introduce N2P as an extension of our N2 family," Wei added. "N2P features further performance and power benefits on top of N2 and volume production scheduled for second half 2026. We also introduced A16 featuring our best-in-class Super Power Rail, or SPR. A16 is best suited for specific HPC products with complex signal routes and dense power delivery networks. Volume production is on track for second half 2026."
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Anton Shilov Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.
usertests The density increases are paltry for TSMC's N2/N3 nodes, even when you disregard SRAM. Reply
thestryker The SRAM improvement is the most notable thing about N2, but it's also their first GAAFET so it makes sense that it would be slightly more conservative. I think N2 is most interesting for what it sets the foundation for with N2P and A16. Reply
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- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/tsmc-begins-quietly-volume-production-of-2nm-class-chips-first-gaa-transistor-for-tsmc-claims-up-to-15-percent-improvement-at-iso-power#main
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