personal tech<\/p>\n
Probably an extension of long-running iThing innards arrangement, not a new custom AI accelerator deal<\/p>\n
\u00a0Broadcom has signed a deal to provide Apple with custom chips until 2031.<\/p>\n
The chips and code shop has supplied Apple with silicon since the late 2000s when its wireless products found a home in early iPhone models. Broadcom\u2019s silicon has found its way into iThings ever since.<\/p>\n
Broadcom\u2019s announcement<\/a> of its extended relationship with Cupertino is brief, stating only that the two companies \u201chave agreed to expand their long-standing technology collaboration through 2031 by entering into new multi-year long-term agreements for Broadcom to develop and supply a range of custom ASIC silicon products for use in multiple generations of Apple products.\u201d<\/p>\n In the last couple of years, Broadcom has built a substantial custom AI accelerator business and has told investors it has six customers for those products. Four companies \u2013 Google, Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic \u2013 have gone on the record as working with Broadcom on such chips.<\/p>\n Pundits speculating about the identity of the other two accelerator buyers have sometimes suggested Apple could be one of the mystery customers. The reference to \u201cmultiple generations of Apple products\u201d in this announcement does little to support that theory, especially as Broadcom CEO Hock Tan has said buyers of the company\u2019s AI chips tend to be developers of frontier AI models.<\/p>\n Another factor suggesting that this extended Apple deal isn\u2019t AI-related is that Broadcom makes plenty of components Apple needs, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chipsets, touchscreen controllers, and ASICs for inductive charging. Indeed, teardown artists iFixit recently found<\/a> at least four Broadcom chips in 2025\u2019s iPhone Air model \u2013 including radios and a charging chip.<\/p>\n Broadcom also boasts about its prowess developing such products in close collaboration with major customers.<\/p>\n