Apple's in-house Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip reported to debut on next-gen Apple TV

The Cupertino giant is done with the Apple Silicon transition for Macs. However, the company appears to be on another "make it in-house" mission now. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that Apple's home-baked Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip will arrive in 2025.

Next-generation Apple TV and a refreshed HomePod mini speaker will be the first to pack Apple's combined chip for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (codenamed Proxima). The chip will be Wi-Fi 6E compatible, as per the report.

Some of the primary objectives are the in-house chip will give Apple more control over wireless hardware and how its devices connect to wireless networks, talk to each other, and pair with other devices.

The transition might come as a significant blow to Apple's current supplier, Broadcom, whose 20% of revenue comes from Apple. However, their friendship will not break entirely as Broadcom will continue to provide radio frequency filters for modems. The two companies are also working on a next-generation cloud server chip.

Proxima has been in development for several years and is a separate effort from the modem chip Apple is planning as an alternative to the one offered by Qualcomm. iPhone SE 4 is speculated to be the first device to arrive with Apple's in-house cellular modem.

While Apple might bring the chip to the market next year, there are doubts about whether Apple will be able to match Broadcom's prowess on its first attempt. Things might get dirty for Apple if problems show up on its primary devices, such as the iPhone or Mac.

It's worth noting that Proxima won't be Apple's first attempt at wireless chips. The company has been designing its custom wireless chips for Apple Watch and AirPods. The report further adds that TSMC will manufacture Apple's in-house wireless chip; it is expected to arrive for iPhone, iPad, and Mac by 2026.

However, this contrasts with the information from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo that Apple plans to bring its custom Wi-Fi chip to the iPhone 17 series next year. He added that Apple is expected to complete its in-house wireless chip transition over the next three years.

Source: Bloomberg

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