Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today said Apple has paused the development of its home-grown Wi-Fi chip for its iPhone. Kuo says the project has been “halted” and that Apple will hold off “for a while.”
While Apple was developing the chip to replace the Wi-Fi chips from current supplier Broadcom. So, it looks like Broadcom will continue supplying the chips for Apple’s upcoming iPhone 15 models, due for release later this year.
News of Apple’s developing its own Wi-Fi chip first surfaced earlier this month, when Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said Apple was working on its own Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chip that would replace the Broadcom components. Gurman said Apple was targeting 2024 to begin the transition to its in-house chips, replacing Broadcom components by 2025.
Apple has also been separately developing its own 5G modem chip to replace the one currently supplied by Qualcomm. Both chips are a part of Apple’s plan to bring the development and production of iPhone components in-house to reduce its reliance on third-party contractors.
Kuo says that “insufficient development resources” are delaying the mass production of not only Apple’s 5G chip, but also the Wi-Fi chip. Work has been paused because Apple wants to focus its chip design resources on the advanced 3-nanometer chips that are set to power future iPhones and other devices.