Following the first Wi-Fi 8 solutions unveiled in October 2025, Broadcom today announced additional chips at CES 2026, painting a more complete picture of the upcoming standard.
These include an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) and two dual-band chips. As it turns out, like Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 8 will continue the sensible trend of not including the 6GHz frequency in certain applications.
Broadcom’s Wi-Fi 8: Next-Gen APU and dual-band devices
Broadcom’s new Wi-Fi 8 hardware includes three components. Apart from the BCM4918 APU, which is a processor, there are the BCM6714 and BCM6719 chips for dual-band transceivers.
According to Broadcom, the combination of the APU and one of the chips above creates a new dual-band “unified Wi-Fi 8 platform” that allows operators to “deliver new real-time agentic applications for residential consumers with built-in security and low power.”
In other words, they will be used in future dual-band Wi-Fi 8 routers and access points.
BCM4918 Wi-Fi 8 APU: Built for AI Edge
As with the previous announcement, Broadcom also ties its new Wi-Fi 8 hardware to artificial intelligence.
Specifically, it says the BCM4918 Wi-Fi 8 APU is a “system-on-chip designed to unify high-performance computing, networking, and AI acceleration in a single, tightly integrated silicon.”
In any case, per Broadcom, the BCM4918 APU’s highlights include:
- High-performance CPU complex for general-purpose software workloads.
- Integrated Broadcom Neural Engine (BNE) for on-device AI/ML inference and acceleration.
- Advanced networking engines to offload both wired and wireless data paths, enabling complete CPU bypass of all networking traffic
- Integrated cryptographic protocol acceleration end-to-end data protection without performance compromise.
- Multi-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces for seamless integration in high-throughput applications.
Broadcom says the BCM4918 combines the flexibility of a traditional CPU, the intelligence of the Broadcom BNE, the efficiency of a network accelerator, and the protection of dedicated crypto engines to create a new class of secure, AI-ready Wi-Fi 8 platform.
BCM6714 and BCM6719: Integrated Dual-Band Wi-Fi 8 Radios
The two dual-band chips, BCM6714 and BCM6719, are similar in nature. Broadcom says they are both highly integrated Wi-Fi 8 solutions that combine 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios in a single chip.
What sets them apart is their hardware specs. The BCM6714 features 3×4 specs, with three 24GHz spatial streams and four 5GHz spatial streams. The BCM6719, on the other hand, sports 4×4 specs, with each frequency having four spatial streams.
Other than that, their highlights include:
- Integrated multi-chain 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz functionality, simplifying system design and lowering cost.
- On-chip 2.4 GHz power amplifiers (PAs) for reduced external components and improved RF efficiency.
- Hardware-assisted telemetry engine, powering the capability introduced in the BCM6718, providing real-time network insights and analytics as input to edge-AI models for QoE measurement, enhanced security, and reduced operational cost.
- Advanced eco-modes and power optimization for ultra-low energy consumption.
- Third-generation digital pre-distortion to reduce peak power by 25%.
A more complete Wi-Fi 8 picture
It’s important to note that the BCM4918 Wi-Fi 8 APU is not exclusive to the two dual-band chips above. According to Broadcom, it can also be used with the previously announced BCM6718 radio chip.
As a result, there is now enough hardware for both tri-band and dual-band Wi-Fi 8 solutions that, per the standard’s specs, feature Seamless Roaming, Congestion Avoidance, and Inter-AP Coordination, with secure Edge-AI processing to deliver much better real-time connections in all types of environments.
Availability
Broadcom says it is currently sampling the BCM4918 APU and two new dual-band Wi-Fi 8 devices, the BCM6714 and BCM6719, to its early access customers and partners. That’s also the case with the company’s prevoius Wi-Fi 8 chips.
As a result, Wi-Fi 8 routers or access points will likely be available sometime this year, even though the new standard is not expected to be ratified until 2028.
