There is only so much that you can cram in smartphones without sacrificing other things such as telephone size, internal space, thermal emissions, and battery life. One solution is to shrink these components while maintaining or even improving their performance and efficiency. It often happens with semiconductors, especially the processors that power cellphones, laptops and computers, and the first 2NM chip IBM, also the first 2NM chip in the world, promised to do that and then.
Most processors that power smartphones and top-class devices currently utilize the Finfet 5 or 7 Nm process. To put it in perspective, the 5NM crams chip is less than a million transistors per square millimeter while the 2NM chip this evidence can accommodate more than 300 million. According to IBM, which resulted in a 45% performance increase.
With more transistors, of course, come more processing power but also more power consumption. However, which is not here, because IBM advertises a lower energy use of 75% compared to the current chip used. In practice, it can make it possible to have a smartphone that will take days, not hours, before needing to be refilled.
This is not just about the smartphone battery life, of course. IBM tries to imagine a world where the data center will produce fewer carbon traces and self-driving cars can detect objects faster and, consequently, avoiding crashing them. Smaller chips will also be a gift for the IoT industry that is always limited when it comes to available space but also requires sufficient processing power to offer smart features.
That said, it was too early to be excited about the IBM 2NM processor, lure because they might be heard. Maybe it will take years before the Actual 2NM chip becomes commercially available, especially considering the shortcomings of the global silicon we face now.
