... [+]Details on the new M2 chipset come in the latest analysis from Ming-Chi Kuo, reported by MacRumors’"Kuo added that the redesigned MacBook Air, another device expected to launch this year, faces"the same technical limitations as A16" with N5P. He suggested that the 2022 MacBook Air's complete redesign is"already a big selling point," which may mean that boasting a major chip improvement could be less important for this device.
Apple’s upcoming update to its silicon lineup - namely the A16 for the new iPhone range and the presumptively-named M2 chipset which many expect to debut in the next MacBook Air - may not meet the high expectations many have set. Chip supplier TSMC has new production facilities coming online that offer its N3 N4P fabrication process and will not be ready for mass production until 2023.
That leaves the N4 and N5P processes; which are not to be sneezed at, but are not going to deliver the same massive step up that the introduction of the M1 chips to the Mac laptops achieved at the end of 2020.