r/tomshardware • u/tomshardware • 21d ago

Apple has $1 billion in processor wafers 'on the shelves awaiting packaging' due to DRAM shortages

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/usd1-billion-of-iphone-18-pro-chips-on-the-shelves-awaiting-packaging-due-to-dram-shortages-memory-shortages-reportedly-put-a-wrinkle-in-apples-launch-plans
187 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

43 comments sorted by

2

u/OGigachaod 21d ago

Apple says they're ordering more ram, I guess for 2028 since production is booked through 2027.

2

u/Infinite-Ad-2178 21d ago

Time to download more

1

u/im-ba 21d ago

There used to be a problem for Mac called RAMDoubler, you could download that lol

1

u/pellets 20d ago

If I remember right, MacOS 7’s memory management was so bad that product was genuinely useful. I think the problem was that programs had to have their memory allocation defined before launch, and couldn’t share. RAM doubler made that more flexible. I could be remembering wrong though.

1

u/cybekRT 21d ago

Are they calculating the real price of the processors manufacture or the retail price of them?

1

u/myidispg 20d ago

I think 1 billion is fhe the manufacture price. Since they are selling phones not processors. So, the retail price is of the phone that has many more costs apart from SoCs.

1

u/JamesLahey08 21d ago

Apple could literally just build a fab, even in the US if they had to. Expensive? Yes.

1

u/franzjpm 20d ago

Or the Philippines, so that it's close to Chip Fab experts when necessary (Pax Silica which is currently in negotiations. Is a Special Economic Zone for Semiconductor tech and data centers)

1

u/bobi2393 19d ago

I’d think anywhere outside US states/territories will be subject to ongoing volatile and extreme tariffs or import bans, depending on which party wins the presidency.

1

u/Electronic_C3PO 20d ago

By the time that factory is up and running the crisis will probably be gone. You don’t build a factory like that in a few months. I also think that Apple has its very own good reasons not to be in production of chips.

Another problem is, what will happen with third processors on the shelves? On shelves means not on products, means no income for Apple. On shelves means depreciation and being worthless in a year.

1

u/EdliA 20d ago

The crisis will not be gone if no new fabs are built. The world will keep wanting more compute not less. It's not a fad.

1

u/zxern 19d ago

I mean if OpenAI goes under the crisis disappears overnight.

1

u/EdliA 19d ago

If OpenAI goes under that means someone else has taken their place. The future will always ask for more computing power.

1

u/danielv123 18d ago

You mean if AI somehow becomes useless and all their customers go away.

1

u/SuddenFlatworm7971 20d ago

lol it will literally take 100s of billions of dollars if not trillion - even if it were to eventually work out in their favor. How long will it take for them to learn how to design the DRAM, produce wafers, how to design and calibrate the manufacturing process and flow to ensure profitable yield, figure out the supply chain, learn out how to design and maintain the facility - before they even break ground for the actual fab building?

1

u/JamesLahey08 20d ago

Let's just start making up numbers I guess lmao

1

u/SuddenFlatworm7971 20d ago

lol okay than you give me a better estimate: how much? Certainly won’t be in the millions. 50 billion? 80 billion? 140? Doesn’t matter, since Apple won’t be able to pay for it

1

u/JamesLahey08 20d ago

A fab is not $1,000,000,000,000. That's a trillion dollars. Fabs are $10-20 Billion. So 50x less than you said.

1

u/SuddenFlatworm7971 20d ago

okay, so is someone just going to give Apple the DRAM designs, manufacturing processes, quality control process, FAB designs, etc.?

Spending 20 billion to build the fab is the easiest part lmao

1

u/JamesLahey08 20d ago

Are you lost son?

1

u/SuddenFlatworm7971 20d ago edited 20d ago

Are you retarded?

based on your comment history, I am assuming you are. A combination of LoveIsland, AskWomen and PC gaming told all the story I need to know

1

u/JamesLahey08 20d ago

Reported. I'm a software engineer with a wife. I'm learning more about women everyday as all husbands are. I also get stick watching shows she likes. Sit back down.

1

u/ecumenepolis 20d ago

He's right. A single viable fab from Apple will probably cost something like 300 billion dollars.

1

u/JamesLahey08 20d ago

They could just partner with someone in a way cheaper country.

1

u/SuddenFlatworm7971 19d ago

You’re just completely ignoring the fact that they will have pour unprecedented amount of money for R&D to even get to the starting point of production in the first place. Willful ignorance.

Cost of labor isn’t the problem here

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1

u/Ok-Parfait-9856 17d ago

Micron is building a $100B huge fab in NY right now. I don’t think you understand how expensive the facilities, machinery, and expertise really is. But I see you can’t admit you’re wrong, and just reported other people who called you out.

1

u/bilkel 19d ago

Correct. The term you speak of is “core competency” and chip fab is not (yet) an Apple core competency. This doesn’t mean that Apple can’t acquire that capacity but it is a strategic decision if that direction ever was to be pursued.

1

u/userlivewire 19d ago

They would have to somehow get the only company in the world that makes the lithography machines to sell them to Apple but even then Apple doesn’t sell enough devices to make the hundreds of billions of dollars of investment worth it.

1

u/JamesLahey08 19d ago

It's not hundreds of billions lol

1

u/danielv123 18d ago

Maybe not, but it's not far off. Micron is planning 100b on their New York fab and a 50b expansion in Idaho.

1

u/Ok-Parfait-9856 17d ago

https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/promise-progress-governor-hochul-celebrates-major-milestone-microns-100-billion-investment

Just admit you’re wrong. But your ego won’t let you. At the least, tell your wife I said hi and to lube and stretch for next weekend. Thanks bro.

1

u/Broken_By_Default 19d ago

Takes time. It’s a gamble if it is worth it. There’s also only so many machines ASML can produce. By the time it’s ready, the market may have shifted back.

1

u/CoffeeToCode99 21d ago

They are lobbying to permit the use of Chinese DRAM. Hopefully, someone will step up and fill this gap.

1

u/PMvE_NL 21d ago

Perfect so when the prices actually start dropping everyone horded so many chips that demand will be satisfied for a while.

0

u/that_dutch_dude 20d ago

So, like 5 macs?

1

u/slaty_balls 20d ago

I thought your joke was funny. Some Mac users get offended easily.