Apple is busy designing its own power management chips for use in future iPhones, which could debut as soon as next year, a new report claims.
The new chips would reportedly be the most advanced power management chips in the industry. They will boast superior processing abilities, allowing them to better monitor and control power consumption, thereby letting iPhones and iPads deliver better performance on lower power consumption.
If true, this rumor would mean Apple lessening its dependence on Dialog Semiconductor, the U.K. company that currently provides Apple with its power management chips, and relies on Apple for the majority of its revenue.
The rumor claims that Apple won’t make the transition overnight, but rather partially replace these chips with its own beginning in 2018 or 2019.
The report goes on to suggest that Apple’s new chips will be exclusively manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), which already buildings processor chips for iPhone, including those designed by Dialog.
Apple’s “insourcing” has been a trend throughout 2017. Bringing production in-house offers a number of advantages for the company, such as letting it better control R&D as well as increasing its margins, thereby making more profit. So far, other victims of Apple’s in-house approach to chip development have included GPU maker Imagination Technologies and power-management chip company Dialog Semiconductor.
