Ya this analogy really clicked with me. To really torture the analogy, Apple or any other TSMC customers hands them an .obj of their chip, and TSMC acts as the slicer and converts that into the GCode that ASML’s “printers” understand. And just like how some slicers have better overhang and infill algorithms TSMC has their own secret sauce for telling the ASML machines what to “print”.
Does that expansion of the analogy work or did I just move the analogy further from the truth?
It's a good analogy but there's one more major aspect. The silicon wafer doesn't sit under a single "printer" the whole time. It has to be moved around between countless different machines all doing different specialized tasks. So there is a huge logistical challenge as well. It is like combining 3D printing with an international airline.
Does that expansion of the analogy work or did I just move the analogy further from the truth?