All Four iPhone 17 Models Again Rumored to Feature Apple-Designed Wi-Fi 7 Chip

[MacRumors]

All four iPhone 17 models will feature an Apple-designed Wi-Fi 7 chip, according to Jeff Pu, an analyst who covers companies within Apple's supply chain.

In a research note with investment firm GF Securities today, Pu said he believes that the Wi-Fi 7 chip's design was finalized in the first half of 2024. He expects the chip to debut in the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max later this year.

The entire iPhone 16 lineup already supports Wi-Fi 7, so the spec is not much of a surprise, but the fact that the chip will be designed by Apple is notable. Last month, Apple debuted its custom-designed C1 modem in the iPhone 16e, for cellular connectivity like 5G and LTE, and now the company is expected to make its own Wi-Fi chips too. By designing more of its own chips, Apple can reduce and eventually eliminate its reliance on external suppliers, including Qualcomm for modems and Broadcom for Wi-Fi chips.

Apple's plan to use its own Wi-Fi chip in iPhone 17 models this year was also mentioned by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Wi-Fi 7 allows for data transmission 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, provided a device supports the maximum specifications.

All four iPhone 17 models should launch in around six months from now.

Article Link: All Four iPhone 17 Models Again Rumored to Feature Apple-Designed Wi-Fi 7 Chip

 

[jz0309]

I find it hard to believe that Apple will commit every single iPhone 17 to a never before used chip… while WiFi is simpler than a modem, look how they introduced the C1

 

[It’s always something]

I find it hard to believe that Apple will commit every single iPhone 17 to a never before used chip… while WiFi is simpler than a modem, look how they introduced the C1

Does not the 16e have an Apple wifi chip? I thought it does.

 

[jz0309]

Does not the 16e have an Apple wifi chip? I thought it does.

I thought it supports 6e “only”

 

[Howard2k]

Shame they didn't get it into the M4 MacBook Air.

 

[It’s always something]

I thought it supports 6e “only”

Yes, that’s correct. But it does give them real world experience with their own architecture if they do go the route suggested by the fine article. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Chiromac81]

The iPhone 16 pro supports a gimped form of wifi as it is only 160 instead of 320 band width

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Does not the 16e have an Apple wifi chip? I thought it does.

No, just Apple cellular. The WiFi/BT chip is Broadcom.

 

[vegetassj4]

Apple unveils new iWi-Fi 7, the most powerful Wi-Fi ever, featuring the all new Apple Designed W7 chip​

With W7, built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence, and super fast speeds, all in a compact design, the ultimate pro WiFi delivers even more performance than ever before seen in a Wi-Fi. Coming in 6 spectacular colors iWiFi 7 is also the most gorgeously designed WiFi that is parsecs beyond anything than ever before. We think you are going to love it.

 

[lenard]

The current Wi-Fi chip in the iPhone 16 is half baked and does not allow access to
the 320ghz band, new chip better be better then that

 

[frownface]

I've changed my router about 4 times in the last 25 years. Usually as the old one dies or i've moved to a different ISP and they've given me something newer for free.

Having the latest wifi modem in my phone has almost never been a factor of consideration for me since basically it's sure to be bottlenecked by my router anyway.

Or maybe i'm unusual and people upgrade their routers each year, buying the latest $300 offerings from asus that look more like a spaceship than the lil white box i have in my cupboard.

 

[FredTX92]

With broken Bluetooth that will be ignored…

 

[AppleFan1998]

Wow, they are really trying to fully stack their vertical integration.. Hopefully their next Wi-Fi chip will be better than the one now.

 

[Howard2k]

The iPhone 16 pro supports a gimped form of wifi as it is only 160 instead of 320 band width

Yeah I can see that being of critical important for a phone.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like it too, but I'd also like a 6 antenna system. There will always be compromises.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I've changed my router about 4 times in the last 25 years. Usually as the old one dies or i've moved to a different ISP and they've given me something newer for free.

Having the latest wifi modem in my phone has almost never been a factor of consideration for me since basically it's sure to be bottlenecked by my router anyway.

Or maybe i'm unusual and people upgrade their routers each year, buying the latest $300 offerings from asus that look more like a spaceship than the lil white box i have in my cupboard.

I don't think most ever upgrade or think about their routers until the ISP gives them a new one, or their old one dies.

I just upgraded last year from 802.11b/g/n 2.4ghz to WiFi 6. Probably won't upgrade again for another decade.

 

[Chiromac81]

If they do proper wifi 7 that would be something-they do a pseudo version now that can't actually do most wifi 7 specs since it is not 320 band.

 

[Howard2k]

If they do proper wifi 7 that would be something-they do a pseudo version now that can't actually do most wifi 7 specs since it is not 320 band.

That’s just silly. 320Mhz is not required for compliance with the wifi 7 specification.

The wifi 7 standard supports 16 antennas. So anything with less than 16 antennas is gimped pseudo-supported too?
You don’t even have to support 6Ghz for Wifi 7 certification.

 

[frownface]

I don't think most ever upgrade or think about their routers until the ISP gives them a new one, or their old one dies.

I just upgraded last year from 802.11b/g/n 2.4ghz to WiFi 6. Probably won't upgrade again for another decade.

okay, so i'm not alone.
I thought for a moment that people really do care about what wifi modem their phone uses.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I find it hard to believe that Apple will commit every single iPhone 17 to a never before used chip… while WiFi is simpler than a modem, look how they introduced the C1

Moreover how much per chip per device is Apple really saving by doing this?!

Moreover what is being lost!!! I think you'll all find this to be more crucial and the former much more insignificant!

 

[Helios_7]

The problem with the current iPhone 16 WiFi 7 support is not just the lack of 320 MHz channels, it doesn’t utilize more than one band at a time. It would connect to two bands but it’s using to only one at a time. https://www.jiribrejcha.net/2024/09/does-iphone-16-support-wi-fi-7-multi-link-operation-mlo/

 

[Juanchi007]

With the 17 Air being the first model to support Apple’s own modem (the C1) and the new WiFi chip, it should be able to make up for any battery life shortcomings (compared to the 16 Plus).

At first I was surprised they weren’t bringing the C1 to the base-model iPhone 17, but this will make for an easier year-over-year battery compare in 2026 if they switch to the thinner design and Apple modems simultaneously.

 

[gregsapphire]

The current Wi-Fi chip in the iPhone 16 is half baked and does not allow access to
the 320ghz band, new chip better be better then that

Yeah it’s definitely a poorly implemented WiFi 7. Not taking advantage of the full set of features of WiFi standard. Due to this it’s now faster than WiFi 6e on other Apple devices. So saying WiFi 7 seemed like just marketing my as WiFi 7 on other wireless devices can be at least 2x the real world speeds. So if their next WiFi chip is a way to just reduce cost and not actually make it in line with the rest of the WiFi 7 devices out there. It’ll be very disappointing. Feels like Apple has been half baking their wireless chips they used for years now. Fingers crossed we get 320 mhz and true MLO support.

 

[svish]

Good to know more about this. Not sure whether this will lead to an improvement in battery life for the new iPhones.

 

[contacos]

I personally don’t even know what that means. People usually just use the router provided by your ISP until it breaks here. My parents is probably 10+ year old and works just fine. I think mine supports this 5 GHz thing and it’s annoying because some of my cheap smart home gadgets can’t connect to it

 

[Bungaree.Chubbins]

I rather suspect that requiring your phone to have FULL COMPLIANCE with the WiFi 7 spec is a bit of an edge case. If you have a specific reason for it, and all the expensive equipment to make use of it, then sure, you’d be disappointed. Otherwise for the majority it’s just a spec sheet bragging right.