Dutch based BE Semiconductor will provide the iPhone 18 Pro with a variable aperture camera, advanced SoIC Packaging and more
BE Semiconductor Industries N.V., simply called Besi, is a Dutch multinational company that designs and manufacturers semiconductor equipment. Besi offers die attach, packaging, and plating solutions. Today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reveals how Besi will play a roll in future Apple devices.
Kuo notes that BE Semiconductor (BESI) is poised to benefit from iPhone 18 Pro's variable Aperture, Apple PCC/ Significant Growth, Earlier-than-Expected HBM Hybrid Bonding Adoption, and Nvidia Networking Equipment’s adoption of CPO
Apple M5 series chip
- The M5 series chips will adopt TSMC’s advanced N3P node, which entered the prototype phase a few months ago. M5, M5 Pro/Max, and M5 Ultra mass production is expected in 1H25, 2H25, and 2026, respectively.
- The M5 Pro, Max, and Ultra will utilize server-grade SoIC packaging. Apple will use 2.5D packaging called SoIC-mH (molding horizontal) to improve production yields and thermal performance, featuring separate CPU and GPU designs.
- Apple’s PCC infrastructure build-out will accelerate after the mass production of the high-end M5 chips, better suited for AI inferencing.
Conclusion
Looking ahead to 2025 and beyond, BESI is poised to benefit from several key growth drivers significantly: 1) Variable aperture cameras in the iPhone 18 Pro series, 2) High-end M5 chips for Apple PCC (private cloud compute) and Macs, 3) Rapid growth in advanced SoIC packaging starting in 2025–2026, 4) Hynix’s adoption of hybrid bonding for HBM4e (16hi) beginning in 2026, and 5) Nvidia Quantum InfiniBand switch starting to adopt CPO.
iPhone 18 Pro Series Variable Aperture Camera’s Aperture Blades:
The iPhone 18 Pro’s wide camera will upgrade to variable aperture in 2026. BESI is the supplier of assembly equipment for aperture blades, a critical component of this upgrade.
Apple PCC/Mac High-End M5 Chips:
- The M5 series chips will adopt TSMC’s advanced N3P node, which entered the prototype phase a few months ago. M5, M5 Pro/Max, and M5 Ultra mass production is expected in 1H25, 2H25, and 2026, respectively.
- The M5 Pro, Max, and Ultra will utilize server-grade SoIC packaging. Apple will use 2.5D packaging called SoIC-mH (molding horizontal) to improve production yields and thermal performance, featuring separate CPU and GPU designs.
- Apple’s PCC infrastructure build-out will accelerate after the mass production of the high-end M5 chips, better suited for AI inferencing.
- BESI’s hybrid bonding equipment will benefit from Apple’s use of SoIC packaging for its high-end M5 chips.
TSMC’s SoIC Shipments Projected for Significant Growth Starting in 2025–2026:
- TSMC’s SoIC customers include Apple (largest customer), AMD (second largest), AWS, and Qualcomm.
- In addition to AMD 3D V-Cache, AMD’s AI chips MI300 series also utilize hybrid bonding.
- AWS and Qualcomm are expected to use SoIC in their AI server/HPC chips, with mass production planned for late 2025 to 2026.