The new office will focus on “wireless radios, radio-frequency integrated circuits and a wireless system-on-a-chip,” in addition to “semiconductors for connecting to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi”.
While the A-series and M-series SoCs that contain the CPU and GPU for Apple’s iPhones and Macs get most of the attention, there are tons of added chips inside those devices, handling things like power management, USB connectivity, wireless charging, and more.
Skyworks and Broadcom supply a substantial portion of the iPhone’s third-party circuitry — these parts Apple, would prefer to design on its own to create more tailored solutions for its hardware.
APPLE TO DEPEND LESS ON THIRD-PARTY SUPPLIERS
One of the most important examples of third-party chips is the iPhone’s modem, which is now manufactured by Qualcomm (but had earlier been the subject of a years-long legal battle that temporarily saw Apple shift to using Intel parts). Apple bought Intel’s smartphone modem business in 2019 for around $1 billion and is looking to switch over to its own in-house modems for the iPhone as early as 2023.
Apple building more of its own chips may not just be about exercising a larger level of control and hardware amalgamation, though: it could also be about accomplishing a better handle on part supply. Apple is now feeling the impact of the current global chip shortage with supply problems for parts from suppliers like Broadcom, this has forced Apple to gash its manufacturing targets back in October. By building its own chips Apple could improve some of those issues in the future.