Apple has announced the creation of a new chip design center in Europe, which will be responsible for adopting 5G in its future devices.
Apple has announced an investment of one billion euros in Europe for the creation of a new design center that will create the chips used in the iPhone sold worldwide and the rest of the European market.
The announcement comes as a confirmation that the apple company will continue to invest in the development of its chips, instead of relying on third parties for its future products.
It is a strategy that has worked for it, first with the iPhone and the most powerful processors on the market, and then with the new Apple M1, it’s the first computer processor that obtains good performance with contained consumption in the new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.
Apple chips will be manufactured in Munich, Germany
Apple’s announcement on its official blog explains that the company has chosen the German city of Munich as its new European Silicon Design Center, which will involve the arrival of “hundreds” of new employees and the construction of new facilities of 30,000 square meters, with an investment of 1 billion euros.
To explain the decision, Apple recalls that Munich is the largest engineering center in Europe, with already 1,500 engineers from 40 different countries in various areas. Now Apple will add to that number by hiring experts in power management, processors, and wireless technologies.
The new center will aim to design new silicon chips, which will be used in future Apple devices; These will not only have to have the latest features, but also “incredible” energy efficiency.
What Apple will create in Europe…
Although it is too early to know exactly which devices will use the new chips, Apple has advanced that engineering teams will explore “the frontiers of 5G technology”; Therefore, it seems to indicate that Apple will develop its new 5G chip there, with which it intends to stop relying on Qualcomm.
The iPhone 12 range was Apple’s first to offer 5G connectivity, but its implementation has received criticism. Battery consumption on the iPhone 12 when using 5G soars, to the point of losing 20% of the battery with normal use; That, despite the measures implemented by Apple to avoid it.
Leaks in the months leading up to the unveiling unveiled internal problems at Apple, which initially did not want to use Qualcomm chips; However, by June it was clear that it had no choice but to accept them. Although in 2019 Apple bought Intel’s 5G division, it was too early to implement its chips.
Today’s announcement is another step in that direction, with the intention not only to use its own 5G chips but even to develop the new 6G for the next decade. Also, Apple advances that the teams will investigate other aspects of wireless technologies, with the integration of software and hardware engineering; All Apple products with wireless modems will also be improved.
