Mobile network, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth: Apple wants to integrate everything into a new chip


Mathieu Grumiaux

January 10, 2023 at 5:35 p.m.

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iPhone 13 Pro - iPhone 13 Pro Max test © © Pierre Crochart for Clubic

© Pierre Crochart for Clubic

This ambitious project would not see the light of day for several years, and would allow Apple to further reduce its dependence on some of its suppliers.

Apple always seeks to master a little more the design of its products, and invests billions of dollars to design its own components.

Apple is working hard to develop its first modem

Since the iPhone 4 in 2010, Apple has been producing its own processors with the AX line, a strategy that continues today with the iPhone 14 Pro and its acclaimed performance A16 processor. The brand duplicated this strategy in 2020 with the M1 and now M2 processors, ARM architecture chips that allow Apple to free itself from Intel for the design of its MacBooks or iMacs.

In 2019, Apple decided to produce its own modems, in order to replace its historical supplier, Qualcomm, and acquired the “modems” division for the amount of one billion dollars. For the moment, the investment has not borne fruit, and the project is said to have been delayed. The brand has also canceled the release of the iPhone SE 4, scheduled for 2024, partly for this reason.

However, Apple seems confident and Bloomberg tells us today that Tim Cook and his teams are working hard to design new chips for the next iPhone.

Towards a single chip including 5G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

Apple teams would be developing both a Wi-Fi chip and a Bluetooth chip, in order to break away from their partner Broadcomm, which currently supplies them with these components. This chip including both types of wireless connection is not expected before 2025, probably due to the launch of a new iPhone.

This decision, altogether logical if we look at the brand’s latest developments, would be dramatic for Broadcomm, for which Apple represents no less than 20% of its annual turnover.

The 5G modem is not forgotten. Apple would now plan to introduce its first model in the iPhone of 2024 (i.e. iPhone 16). A single device would be affected initially before expanding to all smartphones sold by the manufacturer within three years.

The final step in this transition would be the integration of the 5G modem, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on a single chip, but it would still take several years before seeing this project completed.

Source : The Verge



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