Apple’s new A16 iPad may have a special trick up its sleeve

Last week, Apple hit us with a little bit of a surprise, and introduced the new base-model iPad with an A16 chip. The new iPad wasn’t much of a surprise, but the A16 chip certainly was. Rumors had long suggested that we should expect an A17 Pro chip, but that never came to fruition. However, the A16 chip might provide a special perk, one that assures the product can stay around at its $349 price tag in the short term. US-made A16 chips Last year, Apple chipmaking partner TSMC begun producing 4nm chips in the US, at its new Arizona plant. Yields are lower than they’re achieving in Taiwan, but it’s certainly a strong start. TSMC began producing A16 chips at the Arizona plant, which seemed like a weird choice at the time, since it wasn’t quite clear what product would use them: Apple’s A16 SoC […] is currently being manufactured at Phase 1 of TSMC’s Fab 21 in Arizona in small, but significant, numbers, my sources tell me. Volume will ramp up considerably when the second stage of the P ... Read full article.