Apple M-series cost per die
Estimated manufacturing cost per die, from M1 to M4.
Kurnal Insights
That is quite an increase: the cost per die for M4 is almost twice that of M1.
Data
| Metric | M1 | M2 | M3 | M4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDPW (good dies per wafer) | 467 | 359 | 363 | 320 |
| Wafer price (USD) | 15,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 |
| Die cost (USD) | 32.12 | 41.78 | 55.09 | 62.50 |
What the numbers show
- M1 → M2: Wafer pricing stays the same within the N5 family, but GDPW falls and die cost rises by 30%.
- M2 → M3: Moving to N3B raises wafer pricing by 33%, pushing die cost higher again.
- M3 → M4: With N3E, cost per die has passed USD 60.
Moving to a new process generation can mean a roughly 30% increase in manufacturing cost per die. These figures cover the bare die only; packaging, testing, IP licensing and profit are excluded.