After four years of planning, TSMC is now finally going to make older iPhone processors in the US, but it's not and never will be a true return to American manufacturing.

Apple is already testing the initial batch of processors produced for its devices by TSMC Arizona, reports Nikkei Asia. To begin with, the tests intend to compare the Arizona output to see if the quality is similar to chips produced in TSMC’s cutting-edge fabs in Taiwan.

Apple is already testing the initial batch of processors produced for its devices by TSMC Arizona, reports Nikkei Asia. To begin with, the tests intend to compare the Arizona output to see if the quality is similar to chips produced in TSMC’s cutting-edge fabs in Taiwan.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) first announced its plans to build an “advanced semiconductor manufacturing fabrication” facility in Arizona in early 2020, committing to a $12 billion investment in Phoenix that it later increased to a staggering $40 billion when it committed to a second facility in the state.

TSMC's chip foundry in Arizona is not just making one Apple chip, as a second Apple design is reportedly now in production at the facility.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has begun producing advanced four-nanometer chips for U.S. customers in Arizona, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Reuters, a milestone in the Biden administration's semiconductor efforts.

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The Taiwanese government has lifted restrictions that limited domestic chip manufacturers such as TSMC from producing 2nm chips in foreign fabs. According to a report from Taipei Times, the minister of economic affairs J.W. Kuo told reporters in Taiwan that “those were old rules” and “times have changed.”