Apple Watch Inspection Reveals Broadcom Wi-Fi Chip

A close inspection of the circuit board of the Apple Watch shows what looks to be Broadcom's wireless chipset, according to a blog post from Chipworks, a technology patent solutions company.

"The pattern of contacts beneath it shows that it is a wafer-scale package flip-bonded directly to the board. To me, that pattern looks like a Wi-Fi chip layout," wrote Dick James, the author of the post. "We then compared the pattern on the board to the most likely Broadcom WiFi chips. The pattern of contacts matches a BCM4334 single-chip dual-band combo device."

Chipworks got a screenshot of Jonny Ives's unveiling of the Apple Watch on Sept. 9. Ives at one point spoke about the watch's custom S1 SiP (System-in-Package) chip, which miniaturizes an entire computer architecture onto a single chip.

Broadcom's BCM4334 combo chip is already used in a variety of smartphones including the Galaxy Note II, the iPhone 5, and the Galaxy S III. Its specs include 802.11 a/b/g/n single-stream MAC/baseband/radio, Bluetooth 4.0 + HS, and an integrated FM radio receiver. It's a component engineered for power efficiency, since it allows for operation directly from a mobile platform battery while maximizing battery life.

Broadcom declined to comment on components in the Apple Watch.

Apple is notoriously secretive about any partner's hardware it uses in its products. Apple has revealed that the Apple Watch does support the dated 802.11 b/g wireless standard as well as Bluetooth 4.0 for pairing with an iPhone. It's interesting to note that while the BCM4334 support 802.11n, Apple's post on its watch clearly states that the Apple Watch only supports 11b and g. Perhaps 802.11n and even 802.11ac support will be in the next Apple Watch iteration?

For more, see PCMag's hands on with the Apple Watch, as well as 5 Reasons the Apple Watch Is a Winner.