Apple Custom C1 5G Modem Floorplan Analysis

This analysis of the Apple modem die APL1114 details its 4 nm TSMC fabrication, BEOL metal layers, die layout, and manufacturing cost in the iPhone 16e 5G.

The C1 modem die APL1114_die is found inside the Apple APL1114 baseband processor, and the Apple APL1114 package was removed from the Apple A3212 iPhone 16e 5G handset. The APL1114_die was fabricated on 300 mm wafers by TSMC, using the 4 nm (N4) process technology. The back-end of line (BEOL) features a total of 16 metal interconnection layers, including 15 levels of copper (Cu) filled layers and a top aluminum (Al) layer used as the terminal metal (TM). This analysis includes node identification, BELO stack, bit cell usage, critical dimensions, and digital blocks layout with die utilization calculations for total area for logic, I/O memory, and analog components separately. Manufacturing cost is also provided.