In a move to bid its dependency on suppliers, Apple is said to be designing its own in-house power management chipsets as early as 2018, according to reports from Nikkei Asian Review. The company currently relies on Dialog Semiconductor for chipsets.
Power management chipsets on iPhones handle tasks like charging, battery life management, and energy consumption. Sources say that the Apple chipset is supposed to be the most advanced and will also have better power monitoring capabilities than rivals and improve the battery performance drastically.
According to the current plan, these new chipsets are set to replace partially, or around half of the power management chips for iPhones by 2018. While some sources say that designing might be slightly delayed and will be pushed to 2019. The current power management chips for the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch are now exclusively designed and made by Dialog, and according to Credit Suisse, Apple accounted for 74% of Dialog’s revenue in 2016.
With power management being the most crucial core component after core processors, modems, and memory chips, Apple is very keen on cutting down its reliance on external chip designers to boost its production. Apple has been cutting down suppliers for the past one year and is also designing its own graphics chips. The new custom-designed chips will be exclusively manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which also makes Dialog’s chips. Apple is yet to comment on the same.
Dialog declined to comment directly on Apple’s move but in a statement it said:
The level of visibility into the design cycle of its leading customers remains unchanged and the business relationships are in line with the normal course of business.