Apple will switch to its in-house Wi-Fi chip with the upcoming iPhone 17 series. The slim iPhone 17 Air will be the only outlier, sticking to the C1 modem and a Broadcom chip.
Broadcom currently supplies Apple with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips for its devices.
iPhone 17 may use Apple’s Wi-Fi chip
Apple has long relied on Broadcom for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth modules for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. With the company’s growing ambitions in developing in-house chips, it plans to replace Broadcom’s Wi-Fi module with its own. Beyond cost savings, this move will enable Apple to achieve an unprecedented level of hardware and software integration.
There are rumors that the 2025 Apple TV and HomePod will use Apple’s in-house Wi-Fi chip. But that’s not it. Reputed TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims barring the iPhone 17 Air, Apple will use its in-house Wi-Fi module on all other iPhone 17 models. He says apart from cost savings, the move will help “enhance connectivity across Apple devices.”
Following Qualcomm, Broadcom’s Wi-Fi chips will also be replaced by Apple’s in-house chips at a faster pace. My latest industry survey indicates that all new 2H25 iPhone 17 models will feature Apple’s in-house Wi-Fi chips (vs. only the slim iPhone 17 will adopt Apple’s C1 modem…
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) February 20, 2025
Don’t expect Apple’s first Wi-Fi module to bring major performance improvements
The move away from Broadcom would be a big one for Apple, especially since it has relied on its radio modules for years now. As with the company’s C1 modem that debuted on the iPhone 16e, Apple’s first-gen Wi-Fi radio may not deliver any significant performance improvement or technological breakthrough. However, it could provide better power efficiency or other connectivity enhancements.
Kuo previously claimed the chip would be fabricated on TSMC’s 7nm node and support the Wi-Fi 7 standard.
Despite using an Apple-built Wi-Fi module, the iPhone 17 lineup will not use the C1 modem. Instead, except for the iPhone 17 Air, all models will stick to a Qualcomm-supplied baseband.
Apple will likely move away from Qualcomm and Broadcom for such core components of its devices in the future. It could also eventually integrate the Wi-Fi module into the modem for better integration and power efficiency.