This is a translation of a foreign article, so there may be translation errors.
https://wccftech.com/tsmc-2nm-n2p-adopted-by-snapdragon-8-elite-gen-6-and-dimensity-9600-to-reach-higher-cpu-frequency/
Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600 adopt TSMC's 2nm N2P process to secure higher CPU clock advantage compared to A20 and A20 Pro.
It is not just because of reports that Apple has secured more than half of TSMC's 2nm production capacity.
TSMC has two versions of the cutting-edge 2nm process, and Apple is known to have secured more than half of the initial production capacity of the N2 variant for the upcoming A20 and A20 Pro. This means that Qualcomm and MediaTek, which plan to launch the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600, their first 2nm chipsets respectively, in the second half of next year, will have very limited quantities remaining.
To gain an advantage and ensure sufficient wafer shipments, the two Android SoC manufacturers are reported to utilize TSMC's improved 2nm N2P node instead of N2. However, according to one rumor, the reason these companies are switching processes is not merely for reassurance about sufficient supply, but rather to enable the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600 to reach maximum CPU clock.
Although the 2nm N2P technology offers only a 5 percent performance improvement compared to N2, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600 need every advantage to surpass Apple's A20 and A20 Pro. What is interesting in the latest rumor from Weibo source Fixed-focus digital cameras is that he previously directly refuted Digital Chat Station's claim that Qualcomm and MediaTek would switch to TSMC's 2nm N2P process, but now he is accepting this information in his latest post.
Keeping in mind that the performance improvement between the N2 node and its improved version is only 5 percent, why would Qualcomm and MediaTek bother moving to an updated manufacturing process for the Snapdragon 8 Elite and Dimensity 9600?
The most obvious reason is that TSMC has stated that the design rules between N2P and N2 remain identical, making this transition very smooth for the Taiwan semiconductor giant's customers. Additionally, even a slight improvement can greatly help the chipset gain an advantage over the A20 and A20 Pro. By moving to 2nm N2P, both the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600 can achieve higher CPU clocks, which leads to improved single-thread and multi-thread performance.
Improved lithography will help the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600 reduce the efficiency gap with Apple's A20 and A20 Pro. For reference, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and A19 Pro share the same 3nm N3P lithography, but there is a fact you may not know. Qualcomm's current flagship SoC must consume 61 percent more power to beat Apple's top-tier silicon in Geekbench 6, which negatively impacts efficiency.
The Dimensity 9500 showed the worst performance per watt in the same comparison. Of course, one could argue that the four efficiency cores of the A19 Pro were crucial to this contribution. This is because Apple redesigned the architecture to enable these cores to deliver up to 29 percent performance improvement compared to the A18 Pro without additional power consumption.
Although the 5 percent performance improvement between N2P and N2 may not be significant, it will reduce the efficiency gap of next year's chipsets. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Dimensity 9600 may also gain a bandwidth advantage over the A20 and A20 Pro thanks to LPDDR6 RAM and UFS 5.0 storage support. However, since specifications and advantages on paper alone cannot be trusted, readers should take this rumor with caution and wait for further news.
▶ Original source: https://wccftech.com/tsmc-2nm-n2p-adopted-by-snapdragon-8-elite-gen-6-and-dimensity-9600-to-reach-higher-cpu-frequency/
