Apple is looking into moving its chargers to Gallium Nitride, popularly known as GaN. GaN is able to sustain higher voltages in a smaller profile than traditional chargers.
Third-party companies such as Anker have been selling smaller GaN chargers for a while now, which are less than half the size of Apple’s chargers, but still provide fast charging and high wattage, along with USB-C Power Delivery support.
Apple could finally move its chargers to GaN technology
DigiTimes reports that Navitas Semiconductor is expected to get orders from Apple for new GaN-on-Si chips, which will be fulfilled by TSMC. The report says that orders are for 2021, but this does not confirm that Apple will also start shipping these new chargers in the same year.
Ireland-based Navitas Semiconductor, US-based Power Integrations and China-based Innoscience are the global top-three suppliers of fast charging solutions based on GaN-on-Si chips. Navitas are expected to obtain orders from Apple and other vendors in 2021, with TSMC to supply GaN-on-Si chips, industry sources noted.
GaN chargers can support 100W charging in much smaller packages than Apple’s own chargers. They can be used for iPhone, iPad, and MacBook. Considering Apple’s focus on environmental friendliness, due to which it stopped shipping chargers with most of its products this year, the GaN-based chargers will allow for smaller packaging and more chargers to ship in the same storage spaces as before.
GaN-based chargers will also give customers a reason to upgrade to the newest chargers as not only are they smaller, they also heat up less, and lose less power, compared to traditional chargers. These chargers can even support two or more ports to charge multiple devices at the same time.
Apple is behind its competitors in offering GaN-based chargers as companies such as Dell, Lenovo, and Xiaomi have already been including them with their products.
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