Apple pauses in-house Wi-Fi chip development
Shifts in internal development priorities have caused Apple to indefinitely suspend the development of its own Wi-Fi chips for future iPhones.
Internal Wi-Fi chip development has been halted
Apple has been rumored to be bringing modem development internal for years, as it wants to reduce its reliance on distributors like Broadcom. The latest data shows that Wi-Fi chip development has run into potential barriers, and Apple is redistributing its resources.
A report from Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple has halted development of its in-house Wi-Fi chip "for a while." He points to two factors that led to this decision -- an impending Wi-Fi standard transition and 3nm chip development.
Apple was also running into issues with how it would implement its chip, since it was Wi-Fi only and not a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi combo. Broadcom supplies the combo chip, and Apple would increase design complexity moving to two chips for the technology.
The move to Wi-Fi 6E, and eventually Wi-Fi 7, also introduces risk for Apple. The aggressive push into custom chipsets during a standard change only increases complexity.
Apple hasn't been having much luck developing its own modems for Wi-Fi, 5G, and other technologies currently offered by Broadcom. The 5G broadband chip was meant to be tested in the iPhone SE 4 before it was canceled.
iPhone is expected to be the next product category to move to Wi-Fi 6E. The iPhone 15 is due in the fall, and Apple's pause in internal Wi-Fi chip development means Broadcom will get the order instead.
Kuo suspects it will be years before Apple is able to begin its push for custom Wi-Fi chips. The move to 3nm will take place between 2023 and 2025, and that will take up resources in the long run.
Read on AppleInsider
Internal Wi-Fi chip development has been halted
Apple has been rumored to be bringing modem development internal for years, as it wants to reduce its reliance on distributors like Broadcom. The latest data shows that Wi-Fi chip development has run into potential barriers, and Apple is redistributing its resources.
A report from Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple has halted development of its in-house Wi-Fi chip "for a while." He points to two factors that led to this decision -- an impending Wi-Fi standard transition and 3nm chip development.
Apple was also running into issues with how it would implement its chip, since it was Wi-Fi only and not a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi combo. Broadcom supplies the combo chip, and Apple would increase design complexity moving to two chips for the technology.
The move to Wi-Fi 6E, and eventually Wi-Fi 7, also introduces risk for Apple. The aggressive push into custom chipsets during a standard change only increases complexity.
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Apple has halted developing its own Wi-Fi chips; Broadcom is the biggest winner of the iPhone 15's upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E and the leading beneficiary of the Wi-Fi industry-standard upgrade to Wi-Fi 6E/7 with higher ASP.https://t.co/XEZ0bVV8A8-- (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo)
Apple hasn't been having much luck developing its own modems for Wi-Fi, 5G, and other technologies currently offered by Broadcom. The 5G broadband chip was meant to be tested in the iPhone SE 4 before it was canceled.
iPhone is expected to be the next product category to move to Wi-Fi 6E. The iPhone 15 is due in the fall, and Apple's pause in internal Wi-Fi chip development means Broadcom will get the order instead.
Kuo suspects it will be years before Apple is able to begin its push for custom Wi-Fi chips. The move to 3nm will take place between 2023 and 2025, and that will take up resources in the long run.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
I suspect Apple realized they were going to get something mediocre, or that would get them sued, and they would lose.
Or both.
Also, The Max Stand looks freakin awesome, this is the first time I've heard of it.
https://www.themaxstand.com/
It's like brussel sprouts. Or you're in on them or you're not. You're not in and out.
The decision to bring wifi chip design in-house will have been a strategic decision for the long term. It wasn't a 'hobby'. It was always going to take massive commitment to get things into a workable solution but once committed, you give it a crack.
They spent over a billion absorbing intel's 5G modem division plus patents and will have got a leg up on wireless knowhow with that acquisition. They are no strangers to chip design and have access to cutting edge nodes.
Not enough time has gone by to merit slowing down, pausing or halting plans (assuming they ever existed in the first place) . It's too early IMO so my guess is that they are ploughing on but may have possibly lifted any deadline for a shipping product and will just go slower.
There will be no escaping patent licencing but Apple has the cash to support strategic goals and that particular aspect will have been solved long before they decided to take the first step.
It will be all but impossible for Apple to top Broadcom or Huawei in the Wi-Fi arena but they probably knew that before they decided to bring it in-house. Again, this isn't a real issue because they used sub-par Intel modems for years and have never been class leading in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
Taking things in-house brings advantages though, and one of the long term goals would surely be to get a seat on a standards board.
Broadcom or Qualcomm are interested in collecting patent tolls on new future devices, but they’re not going to do the innovation that leads to smaller faster products that the public would actually want to use that’s not their business model and the same applies to Intel, Nvidia and AMD they don’t innovate in that area, but they would like to sell you a big slow, power-hungry chip or have you pay a tax on previous patents.
I don’t think Apple is slowing down new products don’t build themselves, after all Apple Glasses awaits a frame fitting power sipping fast new modem, Wi-Fi components combined inside a new specialized Apple SOC chip, which in turn all need to basically fit on the head of a pin.
The Apple Watch requires constant iteration and innovation. How do you fit new functionality particularly medical monitoring devices which in many cases used to be the size of a baby elephant in a hospital room next to the patient, how do you get it miniaturized inside of something that fits on your wrist, how does that happen? I don’t think Apple is stopping.
https://staycourant.com/products/mag-2-essentials/charcoal
I cropped the image and did a google reverse image search and then a lot of scrolling.