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New Broadcom 5G 802.11ac WiFi chip will likely power future iOS devices

5g-wifi-logoBroadcom today announced a first of its kind 5G WiFi system-on-a-chip that will bring faster 802.11ac WiFi and improved performance to smartphones. Apple currently uses a WiFi chip based on the Broadcom technology in the iPhone, iPad and Mac products making the new 5G chip a likely successor for next-generation iOS devices. The chip is the first to implement 2×2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) on a smartphone and Broadcom said that will significantly improve performance over current implementations of 802.11ac on mobile:

Consumers expect a fast, always-on smartphone experience. Performance however can be degraded by many factors including how a phone is held or positioned.  In the past, MIMO systems have solved these problems on tablets and larger devices by using multiple antennas. With Broadcom’s advanced antenna and PHY design, the BCM4354 can now deliver the benefits of 5G WiFi 2×2 MIMO to smaller platform designs like smartphones while reducing implementation complexity for designers. This achievement enables the industry’s first practical implementation of 2×2 MIMO on a smartphone, opening the door for a new market segment.

Broadcom said the chip will allow smartphone makers to double WiFi performance “while improving system power efficiency up to 25 percent when using wireless applications.”

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Comments

  1. Joseph DiPierno - 10 years ago

    I hope so. Cant wait for to see what Apple does with the iPhone 6.

  2. Angel Diaz - 10 years ago

    Apple has in this precise moment all the advantage to create an amazing Iphone 6 and totally destroy the new Galaxy S5 (more like a G S4s for me). A 4.7′ screen (above 5′ is too much), more battery capacity , a little improve on the camera and the Saphire crystal for the screen. 32gb, 64gb and 128gb (32gb with a starting price as an actual 16gb), 2gb ram and BOOOM, it is ON!!

    • rrobinson1216 - 10 years ago

      God, I hate Apple’s naming convention. This will be the iPhone 8…they need to stop using numbers, or something. I have a feeling Apple won’t start with 32, they make too much margin on the 16GB model with many people never using more than that (or buying more because they think ‘it’s faster’ or something to that effect. In my tenure at Apple before the Genius Bar, I had to tell many a customer that they did not need the 64GB…and at the Bar, ask many WHY they bought the 64GB. I’m dreaming, I know, but I want two or three models. 4″, 4.7″ and 5.3″. I would love a < 5" iPhone for myself. Some people hate bigger screens, hence three models. I have a feeling the sapphire is going to be used for the wearable and not the iPhone, but we can hope. Looks to be promising. I'm curious to see what iOS 8 will bring to the table in half a year or so.

      • rakinjannot - 10 years ago

        Their naming convention works perfectly. The problem is that people don’t understand the naming convention. There is a reason the 4S looks exactly like the 4, the 3GS looked exactly like the 3G, and the 5S… well… okay the 5S looks different than the 5, but not markedly so. The reason is because these are not the next generation, they are improvement on the current one. They are the 2.0 version. It’s the same reason why it is called the Galaxy S5 even though the S4 had a waterproof version. Because that didn’t count as the next iteration. Also, I think it is way too much to ask for multiple models for the iPhone. While it Apple has been diverging slightly from their past “We made this specific configuration. Buy it or go somewhere else” mentality, They adopted new colors for the 5C and a mini version for the iPad. These are baby steps compared to offering three different screen sizes for the same iPhone. It works for the iPad because it’s sold as its own separate product and they are easy to distinguish. The iPhone wouldn’t be able to have that clear distinction because that’s not its brand. There wouldn’t be the regular version and the mini version, there would be two separate and equal sizes. The best bet is that they shoot up the size to a middle ground of 4.5 or 4.7 and offer it there.

    • i agree with everything you said but 2 points: i would like a 5′ or more. and i big improvement in camera both front and back would be great :)

  3. Rick Gillette - 10 years ago

    Will 802.11ac increase the range or just the speed and battery drain of the wifi? My biggest gripe is with the range of the current Iphone, I would love to see some more wifi range on a newer model.

    • sonnymattera - 10 years ago

      That was my first thought… with more bandwidth and transmit range comes more battery drain, right?

  4. rettun1 - 10 years ago

    I thought I read today that the S5 is going to have 2×2 MIMO. So is Broadcom or Samsung the first to implement it?

  5. Pierre Calixte - 10 years ago

    how much of a difference will this make when most people are still on g/n routers?

Author

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jordan Kahn

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s Logic Pros series.