Apple rumored to ditch Broadcom Wi-Fi for own design in iPhone 17

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The iPhone 17 and other late 2025 Apple devices will feature the company's own Wi-Fi 7 chips as part of a longterm move away from third-party suppliers.

Broadcom logo on a gray sign in front of a modern office building with reflective glass windows and an American flag.
Broadcom offices -- image credit: Broadcom



It's long been documented that Apple is working to replace Qualcomm's 5G modems with its own design, but now a new report says it's doing the same with Wi-Fi. Previously, it was rumored that Apple was aiming to drop Broadcom's Wi-Fi processors, but now analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says it will happen with the iPhone 17.

Broadcom currently supplies over 300 million Wi-Fi+BT chips (hereafter referred to as Wi-Fi chips) per year to Apple. However, Apple will rapidly reduce its reliance on Broadcom. With new products in 2H25 (e.g., iPhone 17), Apple plans to use its own Wi-Fi chips, which will be

-- (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo)



Unusually, Kuo has only tweeted this news instead of also preparing a more detailed blog post. Partly because of that, it's not clear whether this news is Kuo's supposition, or is based on information from his industry sources.

The full tweet, though, does continue with a little more detail. As well as saying the iPhone 17 will get the Apple-designed Wi-Fi chips in 2025, Kuo says the processors will be Wi-Fi 7.

Kuo also says that the chips will be made by TSMC with its N7 or 7-nanometer process.

What's more, Apple is reportedly confident enough in its Wi-Fi 7 design that it "expects to move nearly all products to in-house Wi-Fi chips within about three years." Kuo does not explain why some products will not get Apple-designed Wi-Fi chips.

It won't be, for instance, smaller devices like the Apple Watch, whose chassis would presumably might require a different design to Wi-Fi chips in the iPhone or iPad. That's because Apple has been using its own modem in that since 2019's Apple Watch Series 3.

Whatever devices Apple uses its own modems for, though, Kuo makes the obvious point that it will reduce costs. It will also, he says, "enhance Apple's ecosystem integration advantages."

Currently Apple uses Wi-Fi chips from Broadcom. From 2016 to 2023, the two firms were embroiled in a Wi-Fi patent dispute with Caltech.

Rumor Score: Possible

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    XedXed Posts: 2,853member
    This is a dilemma for me. I'm holding out for WiFi 7 before I replace my MBP (and hopefully that will include tandem OLED), but I'll also wait to see how good their WiFI 7 chipset is. The last thing I want is a buggy network card, and with all the decades I've spent with Apple I can't say that they have done WiFi, BT, or Ethernet better than anyone else. And their extended use of AppleTalk when Ethernet was the clearly superior standard is still on my mind, despite also acknowledging that I can't hold that Apple to the current Apple's standard. That said, when it comes to network communication I tend to stand back and let the dust settle before jumping in.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 2 of 2
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,357member
    If true, Apple’s decision to house Wi-Fi and the modem within the glasses is the only path to achieving the miniaturized pair of Apple Vision glasses that resemble a regular pair of glasses, minus the bulk, making you look like a cool Buddy Holly in the process.

    This engineering design control approach necessitates a meticulous and gradual, non-glamorous, yet bone-crushing tech iteration process.
    edited 1:31PM
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