In January 2024 Samsung announced the Exynos 2400 would be on an improved (and improvised) 4nm process, 4LPP+, instead of the leading node, 3GAA.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is on TSMC N4, same as Gen 2, rather than one of the leading N3 flavors of Samsung or TSMC.
TSMC announced several versions of N3. The most viable is N3E with no EUV double patterning. However, SRAM on N3E is the same size as N5. SRAM makes up the majority of a mobile chip. So with no incentive to move to N3E, Qualcomm stood still, at N4.
TSMC plans N3P and N3X to improve on N3E. But these may involve the dreaded EUV double patterning and thus be uneconomic.
Intel announced volume manufacturing of Intel’s first EUV-based node, Intel 4, in Ireland, in September 2023. Intel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake) using Intel 4 was announced December 2023. The actual production chips have yet to arrive to market in February 2024.
In contrast, Samsung and TSMC 4nm smartphone chips have arrived. Benchmarks.ul.com have Exynos 2400 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 benchmarks, PCMark for Android. Samsung Galaxy S24+ has both Exynos and SD versions, and in Work 3.0, the SD has 18052 and Exynos scores 17726 (-1.8% less performance). The SD has longer battery life.
Best Smartphones and Tablets - February 2024 (ul.com)
With both TSMC and Samsung latest-and-greatest nodes unsuitable for smartphones selling in the $1000 price range, can Intel chiplets, backside power delivery, advanced packaging, and most of all advanced nodes (Intel 3 and 18A) keep Moore’s Law alive?
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is on TSMC N4, same as Gen 2, rather than one of the leading N3 flavors of Samsung or TSMC.
TSMC announced several versions of N3. The most viable is N3E with no EUV double patterning. However, SRAM on N3E is the same size as N5. SRAM makes up the majority of a mobile chip. So with no incentive to move to N3E, Qualcomm stood still, at N4.
TSMC plans N3P and N3X to improve on N3E. But these may involve the dreaded EUV double patterning and thus be uneconomic.
Intel announced volume manufacturing of Intel’s first EUV-based node, Intel 4, in Ireland, in September 2023. Intel Core Ultra (Meteor Lake) using Intel 4 was announced December 2023. The actual production chips have yet to arrive to market in February 2024.
In contrast, Samsung and TSMC 4nm smartphone chips have arrived. Benchmarks.ul.com have Exynos 2400 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 benchmarks, PCMark for Android. Samsung Galaxy S24+ has both Exynos and SD versions, and in Work 3.0, the SD has 18052 and Exynos scores 17726 (-1.8% less performance). The SD has longer battery life.
Best Smartphones and Tablets - February 2024 (ul.com)
With both TSMC and Samsung latest-and-greatest nodes unsuitable for smartphones selling in the $1000 price range, can Intel chiplets, backside power delivery, advanced packaging, and most of all advanced nodes (Intel 3 and 18A) keep Moore’s Law alive?