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Definition: transistor density


The number of transistors per square millimeter on a chip. Today's state-of-the-art SoCs (system-on-chips) contain more than 100 million, which is smaller than the head of a pin. See process technology, transistor and SoC.




132,000,000 Per Square Millimeter
Apple's ARM-based M chips are state-of-the-art. The bare die of the M1 Max (middle) contains 57 billion transistors within a die size slightly less than one square inch. See Apple M series. (Image courtesy of Apple Inc.)






More Than a Half Century Ago
With 2,300 transistors and a die size barely an eighth of an inch square, Intel's general-purpose 4004 launched the company into the microprocessor business in 1971. See Intel 4004. (Image courtesy of Intel Corporation.)






One Hundred Million on the Head of a Pin
Nearly impossible to fathom, but today's chips can contain 100 million and more transistors per square millimeter, which is about the size of the head of this pin.