iPhone 17 Pro to Feature Apple-Designed Wi-Fi 7 Chip, Analyst Predicts

iPhone 17 Pro models in 2025 will be equipped with an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain.

Apple Wi Fi Chip Feature Triad
In a research note this week with Hong Kong-based investment firm Haitong International Securities, Pu said the chip could be a long-term threat to Broadcom, which currently supplies Apple with a combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip for iPhones.

Pu believes Apple will expand its in-house Wi-Fi chip to the entire iPhone 18 series in 2026. He did not share any additional details about the chip.

In January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple was developing its own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip for use in devices starting in 2025. Later that month, however, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said it was a Wi-Fi-only chip and said Apple had paused development "for a while." It's unclear if development has resumed.

Like its long-rumored 5G modem for iPhones, the Wi-Fi chip would allow Apple to further reduce its dependance on external suppliers for components.

Wi-Fi 7 support would allow iPhone 17 Pro models to send and receive data over the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz bands simultaneously with a supported router, resulting in faster Wi-Fi speeds, lower latency, and more reliable connectivity. Wi-Fi 7 can provide peak speeds of over 40 Gbps, a 4× increase over Wi-Fi 6E, according to Qualcomm.

In August, Pu said the iPhone 16 Pro models launching next year would also feature Wi-Fi 7 support, but not with an Apple-designed chip.

Top Rated Comments

majkom Avatar
15 weeks ago
Good to know, 17 pro is the one to dodge
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
commander.data Avatar
15 weeks ago
If Apple's going to make their own WiFi chips, maybe it'll be an opportunity to resurrect the AirPort Extreme and Time Capsule?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
diego.caraballo Avatar
15 weeks ago
Fake news to scare the Broadcom guys and have leverage while negotiating chips prices. ??‍♂️
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apparatchik Avatar
15 weeks ago

Pretty wild... 40Gbps speeds are basically NVMe speeds.. never thought I'd see the day you could wirelessly transfer at like 3 Gigabytes a seconds.
Not to be too pessimistic about it but probably no consumer device will support those speeds due to the number of MU-MIMO antennas needed for a router and the number of devices on the network at anyone time for it to happen in ideal conditions.

If it can guarantee say consistent 3-5 Gbps it would be a great leap forward though.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nfl46 Avatar
15 weeks ago
Lol. Wifigate and Bluetoothgate incoming?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
floral Avatar
15 weeks ago
I really hope they can pull it off... it'll put this whole "apple can't make connection chips" thing to rest !
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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