October 8 news, recently, according to foreign media reports, TSMC has informed its customers (Apple, Nvidia and other manufacturers) that it plans to increase the price of up to 8-inch chip wafers by 6% and raise the price of 12-inch chip wafers by up to 5%. Apple reportedly would not accept the price increase at first, but recent news suggests that Apple has compromised to pay the new prices set by TSMC.

Apple is one of TSMC's major customers, with the company supplying chips for Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Given the large number of orders Apple places each year, it was easier for the company to negotiate better prices. Even so, some price increases are inevitable due to the current global economic situation. TSMC is reportedly developing Apple's new A17 Bionic chip, which will be the first chip to be manufactured using a 3nm process. The same technology is expected to be used to make Apple's M3 chip in the future. The Apple A16 Bionic chip, also made by TSMC, uses a 4nm process. However, Apple is reserving it for the more expensive iPhone 14 Pro model. Apple's acceptance of TSMC's price increase means further price increases for the entire Apple product range in the future.