Apple is working on its custom Wi-Fi chip, and that chip is coming to future iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and HomePod models.
iOS 18 Code Reveals New Custom Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Chip Codenamed ‘Proxima’ Coming to Future Apple Devices
It’s no secret that Apple is transitioning away from off-the-shelf chips for its in-house designs, ensuring better efficiency and performance with its own hardware.
According to leaked information shared by MacRumors, Apple is working on several chips for future devices, but the one that caught my eye is called ‘Proxima.’
But, before I touch on that, the iOS 18 code leak reveals the A19, A19 Pro chips for iPhone, M5 and M5 Pro chips for Mac and iPad, S11 chip for Apple Watch, and a new C2 modem for iPhone 17e.
A new Proxima chip is also mentioned, which happens to be a custom Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip.
Previous reports say that Apple is going to bring this chip to all of its devices going forward. There is a chance the iPhone 17 Air will be the phone that gets Proxima, while the iPad will receive it later.
Some reports say the entire iPhone 17 lineup is getting the new Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, but that might be unlikely as Apple would rather test the waters first before making the transition.
This new chip will drastically improve the performance of AWDL (Apple Wireless Direct Link), which makes things like AirDrop, AirPlay, and Handoff features work. It’s basically the backbone of the Apple ecosystem that makes devices work together.
When you click to enable Personal Hotspot on your iPhone, that stuff works thanks to AWDL, but it’s highly dependent on the current Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips. Once Apple has more control over it, especially with custom silicon, new experiences will definitely come forward.
When this chip makes it to devices like iPhone, iPad, Mac, HomePod, and Apple TV, you can expect a far better ecosystem performance. Ever noticed that lag while copy-pasting stuff from one device to the other? That’s AWDL working in the background, and a custom chip from Apple can instantly fix that issue.
As someone who spends way too much time diving deep into how Wi-Fi works, the Proxima chip has me super excited. And who knows? Apple might just use this as an opportunity to bring back the AirPort Wi-Fi router too.
