Apple’s Wi-Fi Revolution: iPhone 17 Set to Debut Custom Chip, Paving the Way for a Game-Changing 5G Merger

News has been circulating for some time that Apple would launch the iPhone SE 4, with the aim of being the first product equipped with Apple’s 5G modem chip, which has been in development for many years. and will be expanded for use with other product models in the future as well.

Recently, a report by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 will be the first product in the second half of next year that is likely to come with a Wi-Fi + Bluetooth chip developed and designed by Apple itself. This will be a chip hired by TSMC for production with 7-nanometer process and will also support Wi-Fi 7. As for the 5G modem chip, although it will be used in the iPhone SE 4 which will be launched at the beginning of the year , But since it is still considered very new and it may take some time to gain confidence before adding it to the main release of the product It is possible that the flagship iPhone 17 series will continue to use Qualcomm’s 5G modem chip, but it could be used in a Ultra-thin iPhone rumored to launch next year to replace it. Plus is also part of this news We should see a selection of different chips as follows.

cellular chips (5G, 4G, etc.)Wi-Fi + Bluetooth chipiPhone SE4AppleBroadcomiPhone17QualcommAppleUltra-thin model of iPhone 17The information is not yet clear

Broadcom currently supplies Apple with more than 300 million Wi-Fi+BT chips (hereinafter referred to as Wi-Fi chips) per year. However, Apple will quickly reduce its dependence on Broadcom. With new products in the second half of 2025 (e.g. iPhone 17), Apple plans to use its own Wi-Fi chips, which will be…— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) October 31, 2024

Apple’s goal is to switch to its own Wi-Fi chips in nearly all products launched after the second half of next year. As for the future, it wants to be integrated into a single chip to support both cellular (5G/4G) + Wi-Fi + Bluetooth connections, which still needs time to develop further. The purpose of the development of the chip itself is to reduce chip orders from other manufacturers, including Qualcomm, and Broadcom has long been the main supplier of Wi-Fi + Bluetooth chips to Apple. and the total number of chips shipped to Apple exceeds 300 million chips per year.

Source: BGR, MacRumors, @mingchikuo