Apple Stops Development of WiFi and Bluetooth Chips, Here’s the Reason
Apple has reportedly stopped development of its own WiFi and Bluetooth chips, which are meant to replace chips provided by Broadcom.
Even so, Apple hopes to have its own chip ready to be used in the iPhone 17 lineup in 2025.
But TF International’s Ming-Chi Kuo says the company is in trouble developing a single component that works to support both WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity on a single chip.
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As quoted The telephone from GizmoChina, as a result of Apple’s decision to stop developing WiFi and Bluetooth chips, Broadcom will continue to supply chips for the iPhone 15 which will use WiFi 6E, as well as an increase in the industry standard that switches to WiFi 6E/7.
Furthermore, Kuo also said that developing a WiFi and Bluetooth combo chip is much more difficult than developing a dedicated WiFi chip. Most of Apple’s products use combo chips made by Broadcom, in which case it would be difficult to get Apple to switch from Broadcom’s chips to its own chips.
On the other hand, it is estimated that Apple will still complete the development of its own 5G modem chip, which aims to replace the Snapdragon 5G modem, which is currently still used for Apple products.
However, development of the 5G modem chip was delayed due to limited resources and issues with Qualcomm’s patents. Ultimately, Apple will likely use its in-house 5G modem chip in the upcoming iPhone series.
Meanwhile, Kuo said that Apple’s engineering resources were diverted to focus on developing Apple Silicon using TSMC’s 3nm process technology. The company also hopes to mass produce the world’s most advanced 3nm chips around the end of 2023.
The chip is expected to significantly improve performance and efficiency over its predecessor, as a lower number of processing nodes implies a higher number of transistors.
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Due to Apple’s discontinuation of WiFi and Bluetooth chip development, Broadcom will supply the new WiFi 6E chip for the iPhone 15 at a higher average selling price.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm expects to supply 5G modems for new iPhone models, until Apple finds effective solutions to the various 5G Modem development hurdles.
On the other hand, the news that Apple stopped developing its combo chip was greeted positively by the shareholders of Broadcom and Qualcomm. [FY/HBS]
