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Xinxi reported on March 6 that according to Taiwan's "Business Times", Apple's self-developed 5G baseband chip will use TSMC's 3nm process.
According to a source familiar with Apple's ** chain, Apple's self-developed 5G baseband chip is codenamed Ibiza, and the supporting RF chip will use TSMC's 7nm process. The industry expects TSMC to eat up 3nm wafer foundry orders. It is estimated that TSMC will start trial production for Apple in the second half of this year at the earliest, and gradually increase the amount of chips in the first half of next year, which means that TSMC's performance may improve significantly after the third quarter of this year.
List of 5G baseband chips used in Apple's iPhone (Source: Taiwan's "Business Times").
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon revealed in an interview at the Mobile World Congress 2023 (MWC 2023) that Apple and Qualcomm have not yet discussed orders for 5G baseband chips in 2024, and he speculated that this may mean that Apple intends to use its own 5G baseband chip in the iPhone 16 series launched in 2024.
Previously, when Apple acquired the 5G baseband chip business of the American chip giant Intel in 2019, there were rumors that Apple would move forward in the strategic direction of comprehensive self-development of iPhone core chips, and Apple would part ways with Qualcomm in 2023.
As early as 2021, Qualcomm has explained to investors and the market that it will face the risk that Apple may switch to self-developed 5G baseband chips in the future. Qualcomm has also warned that in 2023, the proportion of Apple's iPhone and iPad using Qualcomm's 5G baseband chip may only be 20.
However, because the development progress of Apple's baseband chip is not as expected, Qualcomm is still the exclusive supplier of Apple's 5G baseband chip.
The iPhone 14 launched by Apple in the second half of last year is equipped with Qualcomm's 5G baseband chip X65, which is produced using the 4nm process of Samsung Electronics in South Korea, and the iPhone 15 that will be launched in the second half of this year will be equipped with Qualcomm's new generation of 5G baseband chip X70, which is expected to use TSMC's 4nm process to cast chips.
In recent years, Apple has continued to invest in the self-development of core chips, hoping to achieve a more complete integration of software and hardware, and ensure higher design autonomy. According to Bloomberg, Apple has invested in the research and development of WiFi and Bluetooth chips, and has also begun to develop a three-in-one chip that integrates 5G base band, WiFi, and Bluetooth in the same package.
*: China Times News Network.