Apple appears to be building a team that will build custom chips specifically designed for wireless on future devices. According to a Bloomberg report on the matter, Apple is already setting up a group in Irvine, Southern California, where it will look for engineers working on wireless modems and related chips.
This won’t come as much of a surprise since Apple intends to make most of its chips in-house. The company has been developing its own processors for smartphones for a long time, and recently also moved to its own processors in the Mac line of computers. iPhones, iPads, watches, streaming consoles and Apple computers are already equipped with proprietary processors.
However, as far as connectivity chips are concerned, the company remains a supplier of other vendors. For example, Apple purchases wireless chips for the iPhone 13 series from Broadcom and Skyworks. During the infamous Qualcomm lawsuit, Apple apparently sanctioned Intel for developing a 5G modem for its devices. However, Intel’s failure to deliver Apple’s desired performance in time, combined with the company’s timely resolution of its plight with Qualcomm, led it to switch to Qualcomm modems on its iPhones.
Apple, however, has also acquired Intel’s 5G modem division, saying it will soon create its own connectivity chips. Then, too, it was said that Apple created a team to create its own modems, and today’s Bloomberg report further confirms this. Looking ahead, it remains to be seen when we will see Apple use its own chips in its hardware – and when it will become completely independent of third-party vendors, at least in chip design.
It’s important to note that Apple doesn’t build its own chips. He develops his own chips to individual specifications, after which he orders chip and semiconductor manufacturers to start creating chips for her. However, this is the accepted norm in the technology industry, and it is unlikely to change even if Apple starts to “produce”all the necessary chips for its devices.