Intel is hoping to lure Apple away Qualcomm to become the Cupertino firm’s supplier for baseband chips in its popular iOS devices, says a report today by The Korea Herald. The baseband chip controls the radio functions of an iPhone or iPad, allowing it to communicate with a mobile network.
The Herald, via MacRumors:
“Chances are high that global smartphone makers such as Apple and LG Electronics will use Intel’s baseband chips in their products down the road,” said Lee Hee-sung, the president of Intel Korea, at a press meeting on Thursday.
Such collaborations are highly likely given that the world’s largest smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics, has recently announced its midrange premium handset the Galaxy Alpha, which contains Intel’s XMM7260 baseband modem.”
Apple moved away from the original Infineon baseband hardware used in early iPhones and began using Qualcomm chips following Infineon’s purchase by Intel in 2010.
Intel currently makes the processors used in Apple’s Mac lineup of computers.
