A Wednesday report from DigiTimes (via MacRumors) says the iPhone 15 lineup will continue to use Qualcomm 5G modems, as Apple continues to develop a custom in-house 5G modem.
The report today says that TSMC will be the main supplier of the Qualcomm 5G chip for use in the iPhone 15 series, using the 5nm and 4nm process.
The current iPhone 14 lineup uses the Snapdragon X65 modem, which offers improved 5G speeds and battery life. The iPhone 15 is expected to use the more advanced X70 chip, which features artificial intelligence capabilities for faster average speeds, improved coverage, better signal quality, lower latency, and up to 60% improved power efficiency.
Apple has been working to ease its reliance on Qualcomm for 5G modems by developing its own in-house solution. However, it doesn’t appear Apple’s solution will be ready for the 2023 iPhone lineup.
This report jibes with a tweet from Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who in June 2022 said that Apple’s 5G modem chip development “may have failed.” Kuo said Qualcomm would remain Apple’s 5G modem provider for the 2023 iPhone lineup.
Apple’s development of its own 5G modem, which reportedly kicked off in early 2020, has been widely reported.
Apple in July 2019 purchased the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business. The transaction was valued at $1 billion Apple said at the time that the purchase will “help expedite our development on future products and allow Apple to further differentiate moving forward.”
