Apple is shutting down its in-house 5G modem development say unconfirmed reports coming out of Asia. Apple has reportedly run into several problems in its modem development efforts.
“yeux1122” on the Naver blog says Apple supply chain sources related to Apple’s 5G modem departments claim that Apple is in the process of winding down its several-years-long investment in the modem project. The leaker known as @Tech_Reve has also said they had heard similar reports from a Japanese supply chain source.
While these reports cannot be confirmed, Apple has reportedly seen its modem development efforts run into several roadblocks. A report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman from earlier in November said Apple is still “years away” from coming up with a modem chip that will be able to compete with chips from the current manufacturer of Apple’s modem chips, Qualcomm.
Gurman said Apple will be unable to hit its original 2024 target date for having the chip in an iPhone and that it would also likely miss an extended spring 2025 launch target. Gurman said that the modem chip launch would be delayed until 2025 or early 2026. He said Apple was planning to first use the new 5G chip in its low-cost iPhone SE.
Gurman said Apple’s development is still in its early stages and it “may lag behind the competition by years.” One version Apple is working on doesn’t support faster mmWave technology, and Apple is having issues working with the Intel code it purchased. Attempts at rewrites have proven to be problematic, as adding new features tends to break existing features. Apple also has to be careful not to infringe on any of Qualcomm’s patents.
Apple in September agreed to use Qualcomm modems for the next three years.
Apple is Qualcomm’s biggest client, accounting for almost 25% of the supplier’s revenue. The deal with Apple covers smartphone launches in 2024, 2025, and 2026. The agreement was originally set to expire this year and the iPhone 15 lineup had been expected to be the last to use Qualcomm modems.
(Via MacRumors)
