[News] TSMC Reportedly Notifies Clients of 8–10% Sub-5nm Hike in 2026, Apple A- & M-Chips Affected

Amid growing speculation that TSMC has begun alerting clients to a 2026 price hike, new reports are adding fuel to the fire. According to a Naver post by leaker yeux1122, cited by MacRumors and Wccftech, the foundry giant has notified key customers—including Apple—of upcoming price increases for chips made on nodes below 5nm. Notably, TSMC reportedly plans to raise prices by 8–10% starting next year.

Apple is expected to take one of the hardest hits, as the hike will reportedly apply to its entire lineup — from the A16, A17, A18, and A19 mobile chips to the M3, M4, and M5 series for Macs, and even future generations, including A20 and M6.

Commercial Times reported in late October that the Cupertino firm has already secured most of TSMC’s initial 2nm capacity for the A20 lineup, which will debut next year. As per cnBeta, the standard iPhone 18 will be powered by the A20 chip, while the iPhone 18 Pro and Apple’s long-rumored foldable iPhone are expected to feature the more advanced A20 Pro chip.

However, Wccftech and MacRumors alert that TSMC’s 2nm chips could cost up to 50% more than their 3nm counterparts, adding that the sharp increase is driven by massive capital expenditures for the new node and yields that have only recently stabilized, leaving no room for discounts — a development that may spell trouble for Apple’s upcoming iPhone lineup.

As the reports highlight, if things go as expected, flagship 2nm smartphone chips could cost around $280 each, making them the priciest component in the next iPhone and potentially squeezing Apple’s profit margins—unless those costs are passed on to consumers.

Smartphone Makers Brace for Rising Chip, Memory Costs

Soaring chip prices aren’t the only challenge for smartphone makers. Wccftech notes that the AI-driven shift of global DRAM capacity toward HBM has left mobile-focused LPDDR5x supply historically tight, driving memory prices even higher.

And Apple is surely not the only one feeling the pinch from rising component costs. ETNews, citing an internal Samsung report, reveals that several key parts are rising in price at the same time—mobile chipsets up roughly 12% year-over-year, camera modules about 8%, and LPDDR5 memory surging more than 16%—a combination that rarely bodes well for consumer pricing.

As ETnews highlights, the ripple effect is already hitting the broader smartphone market: Apple has raised the iPhone 17 price, with the iPhone 18 likely to follow. Chinese brands are also jumping on the bandwagon: Xiaomi increased the price of its Redmi K90 launched in October, while Vivo and Oppo are reportedly rolling out similar hikes, as per ETNews.

Read more

• [News] TSMC Reportedly Flags 3–5% Price Hikes for Sub-5nm in 2026, Ripple Effects on Mature Nodes Expected
• [News] TSMC 2nm Reportedly Up 10–20%, Far Below Rumored 50%; 3–7nm to Rise Single-Digit in 2026
• [News] TSMC’s 2nd Arizona Fab Reportedly to Install 3nm Gear in 3Q26, U.S. Price Hikes Likely over 10% Next Year

(Photo credit: TSMC)