The in-house wireless chips transition started with the iPhone 16e’s C1, and Apple wants to branch out to other categories, with its entire iPhone 17 series said to be treated to the company’s custom Wi-Fi silicon. However, the Cupertino firm is not limiting its home-grown hardware just to be found in handsets, but also in other devices, as leaked code reveals that the same wireless chip will arrive to the M5 MacBook Air family next year. Before we proceed with the details, we just want to remind readers that Apple has lofty ambitions for in-house parts, and in the process, it will reduce dependency on companies like Broadcom and Qualcomm.
There is currently no confirmation if the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will form a single package on the M5 MacBook Air models
The plan for Apple is to take a more efficient and space-conserving method for its in-house wireless chips. Its grand plan was reported back in 2023, where the company would combine Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular chips in a single package to increase the available space while also contributing to power savings. Currently, having these components separately soldered to the logic board increases production costs and removes the benefits highlighted below, but the first steps are expected to be taken with the iPhone 17 launch.
The next phase would be bringing the same in-house Wi-Fi chip to the M5 MacBook Air series, which @aaronp613 mentions on X to feature the same 13-inch and 15-inch footprint as the M4 MacBook Air range, indicating that Apple will not introduce any design change to the upcoming models. Back in March, we mentioned that the technology giant had already commenced development of the newer portable Macs, and based on the company’s original launch timeline, we could witness their arrival in the first quarter of 2026. What remains to be seen is whether Apple will just incorporate the custom Wi-Fi chip on the M5 MacBook Air models or integrate the packaging with Bluetooth.
The post appears to suggest that two chips will be found on a single die, but knowing Apple’s propensity for taking baby steps towards a particular transition, we believe that the 13-inch and 15-inch M5 MacBook Air models will debut with an in-house Wi-Fi chip first, with successive models featuring the more advanced packaging. We expect this custom part to behave similarly to the iPhone 16e’s C1, using Apple’s tightly-knit integration to optimize performance and efficiency, leading to better battery life on the M5 MacBook Air lineup, not that such improvements were necessary. As always, we will provide more details during the official announcement next year, so stay tuned.
News Source: @aaronp613
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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