Broadcom has expanded its partnership with Apple through a new multi-year agreement that will run until 2031, according to a report by Mark Gurman for Bloomberg. Under the agreement, Broadcom will develop custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chips tailored for specific applications. The chips will be used in multiple generations of Apple products, the company said in a regulatory filing. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Apple and Broadcom have been partners for years, with the chipmaker supplying networking and connectivity components for Apple devices, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and 5G chips.
While Apple has reduced its reliance on the company by introducing its own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips in iPhones, iPads, and Macs, it continues to supply certain cellular networking components that work with Apple’s in-house modem.
The agreement centers on custom ASIC silicon, which is used in the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure. According to the report, Apple is developing dedicated AI server chips, codenamed Baltra, for deployment next year.
They incorporate Broadcom technology and are expected to power cloud-based Apple Intelligence features, including advanced text and image generation and information summarization.