how is it possible for computer chips to have billions of transistors?

Question

Aren’t transistors physical things? How is it possible to manufacture billions, especially within the small size of a computer chip?

I saw the Apple m2 chip has 20 billion transistors – it just seems incomprehensible that that many can be manufactured.. they could be microscopic, but 20 billion is still an absurd number

In: 2283

Answer 1

I’ve always had the opinion that our transistors are centuries ahead of where we have any right to be as a civilization. Like if an alien spacecraft surveyed us they be like “WTF these guys are still burning coal but they have nanometer-scale transistors”?

It’s like we mainlined all our skill points into one category.