After the A17 Pro SoC fabbed on a 3nm node powering the iPhone 15 Pro duo, Samsung will roll out the first GAA-based 3nm Exynos 2500 once it arrives this year to power Galaxy S25 devices. But that hasn’t stopped Apple from going one up and exploring the cutting-edge 2nm tech at TSMC. Seems like Apple isn’t that far as the South Korean giant is reportedly commencing the development of 2nm Exynos chips using its GAA lithography.
We earlier reported how Apple’s COO Jeff Williams took off to Taiwan to meet chipmaker TSMC’s C.C. Wei to secure the first wafer shipment fabbed on the next-gen 2nm tech. Cut to now, Samsung will reportedly start development of its 2nm wafer that we could eventually see as Exynos 2600 SoC in 2026 as put forth by Naver.
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The purported chipset is codenamed “Thetis” named after Greek mythology whose etymology translates to ‘generations’. It will follow Samsung’s revolutionary ‘Gates all Around’ or ‘GAA’ lithography.
The South Korean giant was earlier reported to start mass production of 2nm GAA wafers next year along with three iterations of 3nm GAA lithography. It should give Samsung the ability to optimize the performance exhibited by these chips. Samsung is trying to reduce current leakage and boost power efficiency and with a 2nm move, Samsung Foundry could get an edge over TSMC’s 2nm wafers.
However, it doesn’t mean Samsung will beat TSMC in the game. Unlike the latter, Samsung has been battling with a lower yield rate of 20% (after successfully increasing it to three folds compared to the original value). This puts unwanted obstacles between Samsung Foundry and its dominance over 2nm chips.
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The smartphone giant is trying to gain more ground over smartphones running on its in-house Exynos SoC also because it will help reduce the dependency on Qualcomm and MediaTek among other chipmakers as well as reduce the chipset expense significantly.
As per the timeline, the 2nm wafers will commence mass production soon followed by unveiling in the last quarter of 2025 or early 2026 as a part of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Series. Dubbed Exynos 2600, the chipset will power Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus everywhere except the United States, Canada, and China (Snapdragon 8 Gen 5). Finally, the Galaxy S26 Ultra will see SD8 Gen 5 SoC everywhere.
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