Apple’s long-in-the-works, in-house Wi-Fi chip may arrive in 2025 iPhones and iPads, according to DigiTimes.
“Apple is poised to equip iPhones with its self-developed 5G modem by 2025,” the article says. “The latest iPhone SE is expected to be the first recipient, potentially arriving as early as the first half of 2025, followed by select models of the iPhone 17 series in the second half of the year. Shipments of Apple’s in-house 5G chips are projected to surpass 100 million units by 2026. The tech giant’s self-developed Wi-Fi chips are also anticipated to debut around 2025, though the specific product and timeline for their introduction remain uncertain.”
DigiTimes adds that “insiders from Apple’s supply chain” suggest that the company may introduce its in-house Wi-Fi chip in new iPads in 2025. Alternatively, Apple might choose to debut it in certain iPhone 18 models in 2026. Finally, DigiTimes says that the first version of Apple’s 5G chip may not support mmWave.
In an August 18 “Power On” newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said Apple is devoting billions of dollars, thousands of engineers and millions of working hours to a project, an in-house-built modem, “that won’t really improve its devices — at least at the outset.”
“Even people within Apple acknowledge that customers don’t really care who makes the modem in their phone,” he wrote. “The project will allow the company to say that it produces the most important iPhone components in-house, which might be a marketing point. But the user experience won’t noticeably change.”
So why is Apple making the effort? To save money.
“The iPhone maker has argued for years that it pays Qualcomm too much for modems,” Gurman said. “But Qualcomm has said that Apple will still have to pay it some royalties regardless (the chipmaker believes that Apple won’t be able to avoid infringing its patents).”
He also said there’s a possibility that Apple could one day combine all of this into the device’s main system on a chip, or SoC.
“That could further cut costs and save space inside the iPhone, allowing for more design choices,” Gurman said.“Furthermore, if Apple does ultimately save money by switching away from Qualcomm, it could redirect that spending toward new features and components.”
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