The Business Times reported that Apple’s self-developed 5G baseband (modem) and supporting RF ICs have been designed, and trial production and sample delivery have recently begun. The iPhone 15 launched in 2023 will fully use Apple’s 5G baseband and RF IC chips.
According to reports, Apple’s first-generation 5G baseband will support both Sub-6GHz and mmWave (millimeter wave), using TSMC’s 5nm process, while the RF IC uses TSMC’s 7nm process, and the industry is expected to mass production in 2023.
The supply chain believes that based on Apple’s stocking volume of about 200 million for each generation of iPhones, the total number of 5nm wafers for the first-generation 5G chips applied on the iPhone 15 will reach 150,000, and the total number of 7nm wafers for supporting RF ICs will be as high as 150,000. The volume can reach up to 80,000 pieces, and TSMC’s 5/7nm production capacity is expected to be fully loaded all the way to 2024.
The supply chain said that Apple’s iPhone 14 to be launched in the second half of 2022 will be equipped with Samsung’s 4nm foundry Qualcomm X65 and RF IC, with Apple’s A16 Bionic chip; Apple’s 2023 iPhone 15 will be the first to use self-developed chips In the same period, the A17 will be mass-produced using TSMC’s 3nm process.
Apple and Qualcomm broke out a patent licensing fee lawsuit in 2016. The two parties later reached a settlement and signed a 6-year licensing agreement in 2019, including a 2-year extension option and multi-year chip supply. Later, it was reported that although Apple would still use Qualcomm 5G chips, it still decided to develop its own 5G baseband and related chips, and acquired Intel’s smartphone 5G product line in 2019, in order to reduce its reliance on Qualcomm and reduce patent fees.
At present, the first-generation 5G baseband developed by Apple has been in development for nearly 3 years, and the industry has also indicated that it has successfully completed the design and started trial production and sample delivery. It is expected to start mass production in 2023.
In addition, Qualcomm Chief Financial Officer Akash Palkhiwala has previously stated that Apple is expected to use only 20% of Qualcomm 5G modems in iPhone models shipped in 2023, suggesting that Apple will soon mass-produce self-developed baseband chips. Tianfeng International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also said that Apple’s own 5G baseband chips may debut in 2023 iPhone models.
The report also pointed out that Apple’s 5G baseband uses TSMC’s 5nm foundry, but the packaging and testing will be entrusted to Amkor, and the iPhone 15 launched in 2023 will be the first mobile phone to be used.