I'm sure 16nm will soon be a better buy as 12nm becomes the next standard. Would be interested to know if it would be better to try 12nm.
"12nm" is not a new process, it's a process improvement of "16nm" that is run on the same fab lines.
The rename is more about marketing than any significant change to the feature size.
It's also NOT going to free up any fab space or capacity on the current "16nm" lines.
Going to get even worse in the next generation - what Intel and Samsung (and IBM) are calling "10nm" and shipping TODAY is almost identical to the announced specs for what TSMC and GF are calling "7nm".
Then the generation after that - IF THERE IS ONE - may not be a silicon generation, given Intel comments about "10nm is the end of the road for pure silicon" and IBM using a mixed silicon/germanium wafer in their work on 7nm.
now I'm trying to remember if that was the pixel size with the lithograph, or the size of the transistor they can make?..
makes no difference really with the transistor, they still produce heat when they switch states..