Bell Labs' 1947 Transistor Enabled Up to 30 Billion Chips in One iPhone

2 articles · Updated · WIRED · Aug 23

Up to 30 billion transistors now fit inside an iPhone 17 Pro, illustrating how Bell Labs' 1947 invention turned room-sized electronics into handheld devices.
The transistor replaced vacuum tubes, which consumed heavy power, burned out often and made early computers such as 1945's ENIAC fill entire rooms.
Using semiconductor materials such as silicon, transistors let one current control another with finer precision, while switching faster and more reliably than mechanical relays.
That combination of control and miniaturization underpins modern electronics—from 1950s transistor radios with six to 10 transistors to today's computers, cars, phones and AI systems.