Apple’s AI Core: How a New Chip Architecture Powers the iPhone Air

Emerging as the major new addition to Apple’s most recent lineup, which went available for purchase on Friday, is the iPhone Air. But hidden inside the elegant design of this phone’s elevated section is another creative feature that shows a new focus on artificial intelligence.

With the release of Apple’s bespoke A19 Pro chip, new chip architecture changes significantly with neural accelerators included in every GPU core to boost computing power. Along with its first wireless chip for the iPhone, the N1, Apple has debuted a second-generation modem, the C1X. Analysts contend that this will help Apple keep command over all of the critical chips used in its products, thanks to a strategic move.

“That’s where the magic is,” remarked Tim Millet, Apple’s vice president of platform architecture. “We are able to achieve beyond when we have control. What we can achieve by purchasing a merchant silicon component.” He discussed these ideas during his first U.S. interview on CNBC at Apple Park in September about the next generation of chips.

Broadcom used to supply most of the wireless and Bluetooth chips for iPhones; however, Apple has started making networking chips for its AirPods and nearly ten years for Apple Watch. In addition to the iPhone Air, the N1 chip is now featured throughout the iPhone 17 series. Apple’s vice president of wireless software technologies and ecosystems, Arun Mathias, showed CNBC an example of the improved Wi-Fi features of the N1.

Qualcomm has been the sole provider of iPhone modems since 2020. But this shifted in February when Apple debuted the C1 modem in the iPhone 16e, a plan that started in 2019 with Apple’s purchase of Intel’s $1 billion modem business. Qualcomm has repeatedly warned investors about this coming change. Apple’s C1X equips the iPhone Air, but Qualcomm modems are still present in the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max.