Kuo: Apple plans to use its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip made using TSMC's N7 process and supporting Wi-Fi 7 in the iPhone 17, reducing its reliance on Broadcom
what that means for you Alan Friedman / PhoneArena : iPhone 17 series will debut Apple's homegrown Wi-Fi 7 chip Rajesh Pandey / Cult of Mac : iPhone 17 could use Apple's new Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip Ali Salman / Wccftech : Apple's Custom 5G Chip For The iPhone Will Not Be An All-In-One Connectivity Solution, As Company Works On Dedicated WiFi 7 Chip GSMArena.com : iPhone 17 to use Apple's own Wi-Fi 7 chip Joe Rossignol / MacRumors : Kuo: Apple's Upcoming 5G and Wi-Fi Chips for iPhones Are Currently Two Different Chips X: @mingchikuo : 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 made by TSMC's N7 process and support the latest Wi-Fi 7 spec. @mingchikuo : Starting from 2H25, both Apple's 5G and Wi-Fi chips will gradually be used in new products simultaneously. However, since these are two different chips (using different TSMC processes), the early switch-over timelines will differ due to separate production schedules. For example, the iPhone SE4 will move to an Apple 5G modem but still use a Broadcom Wi-Fi chip. Joe Rossignol / @rsgnl : @mingchikuo 9to5Mac says Apple's in-house chip will offer all-in-one 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS capabilities. Do you know if that's accurate? Your information on Apple's in-house 5G and Wi-Fi chips has always been separated, as far as I remember. Thank you! 🫡 Mark Gurman / @markgurman : Detailed Apple's planned move from Broadcom to its own WiFi chip in Jan. 2023 https://www.bloomberg.com/... Forums: r/gadgets : Kuo: iPhone 17 will use new Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip made in-house by Apple MacRumors Forums : iPhone SE 4 First to Get Apple-Designed 5G Modem, iPhone 17 Pro to Add Custom Wi-Fi 7 Chip
Context & Ripple Effects
This report advances a multi-year effort first described as a combined Apple Wi-Fi and Bluetooth replacement for Broadcom components. The immediate significance is scale: Broadcom is said to supply more than 300 million Wi-Fi+Bluetooth chips to Apple annually.
The reported iPhone 17 design uses a dedicated Wi-Fi/Bluetooth chip rather than combining it with Apple’s separate 5G effort. That makes the move a targeted substitution of one supplier component, not evidence that Apple has completed a single all-in-one connectivity platform.
First-order effects
- Apple would shift iPhone 17 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth sourcing toward an in-house Wi-Fi 7-capable design manufactured on TSMC’s N7 process, while Broadcom faces a reduced role in that component category.
- The reported design separates Wi-Fi/Bluetooth from Apple’s 5G chip work, so the two connectivity functions would continue to have distinct chip roadmaps and manufacturing choices.
Second-order effects
- Broadcom’s exposure to Apple would become more sensitive to how broadly Apple deploys its own connectivity silicon; its remaining Wi-Fi+Bluetooth supply position would be less assured than under the prior merchant-chip arrangement.
- TSMC gains another Apple-designed chip workload, while Apple gains more control over the feature and cost trade-offs of Wi-Fi/Bluetooth integration across future devices.
Third-order effects
- If Apple extends this transition beyond one iPhone generation, large handset makers’ custom silicon programs could increasingly shift value from component vendors to foundry manufacturing and internal chip design.
- The separate modem and Wi-Fi efforts suggest vertical integration may proceed function by function rather than through a single connectivity chip, leaving incumbent suppliers exposed in stages rather than all at once.
The trend: Apple’s connectivity-silicon push is part of a broader move by major device makers to replace high-volume merchant components with internally designed chips while retaining foundry partners for production.