Apple is apparently still experiencing issues with its modem development, as the Cupertino firm has extended its modem licensing agreement with Qualcomm through March 2027. Qualcomm made the announcement on Wednesday during its first earnings call of 2024.
Apple has been working on its own 5G modem chip for several years. The technology is part of an Apple effort to wean itself off of outside chip manufacturers like Qualcomm, but the progress of the program has been delayed several times.
In November 2023, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman said that Apple will be unable to hit its original 2024 target date for having the chip in an iPhone, and Gurman said it will also likely miss an extended spring 2025 launch target. It now appears that the modem chip launch will be delayed until 2025 or early 2026. Apple had planned to first use the new 5G chip in its low-cost iPhone SE, but it is increasingly looking as if Apple will miss meeting that goal.
Gurman says 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.
“Why we thought we could take a failed project from Intel and somehow succeed is a mystery,” an Apple employee told Gurman.
Apple’s upcoming iPhone 16 Pro models, which will debut in the fall, are rumored to be using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X75 modem which provides improved carrier aggregation, and a more power-efficient transceiver.