For several years, Apple has been striving to develop its own fifth-generation (5G) modem, ultimately aiming to eliminate the need for reliance on third-party modem technology. Apple’s progress on its 5G modem is picking up pace, with the potential for a first-generation model featuring an Apple-designed chip as early as 2025.
This summary provides a comprehensive overview of Apple’s advancements in 5G modem technology.
Apple’s first device to harness the power of its 5G modem will be a game-changer for users seeking lightning-fast connectivity. The upcoming smartphone, expected to debut later this year, will revolutionize the way we access and share information on-the-go.
While swapping out a modem chip may seem like a minor adjustment, it can actually have a substantial impact on one’s mobile expertise. Before transitioning to its own technology, Apple must guarantee its 5G modem meets or exceeds the quality of Qualcomm’s current 5G chips.
By 2025, we’re expecting the iPhone 4 to mark a significant milestone as it will be the first Apple device featuring an Apple-designed 5G modem. The device is designed as an incremental release rather than a flagship smartphone, allowing Apple to gauge modem performance at large scale before introducing its own modem technology to the main iPhone lineup.
Rumors suggest that iPhone SE 4 may debut in early 2025, potentially before April arrives. The rumored release of iPhone SE 4 with an Apple modem could lead to its debut in a secondary device as early as September 2025.
A leading Apple analyst suggests refining the company’s iconic “Air” or “Slim” product line by upgrading its internal modem to a sleek, high-performance design. By 2025, Apple is expected to produce between 35-40 million iPhone units featuring its proprietary modem technology, paving the way for further adoption of this innovation across subsequent model years, including 2026 and 2027, provided all goes according to plan.
No mmWave 5G?
By September, Qualcomm had reportedly advised Apple to prioritize developing mmWave expertise for the company’s first 5G modem chip, with plans to restrict its focus to sub-6GHz 5G instead. While mmWave 5G boasts impressive speeds, its limited range restricts its availability to large events and major metropolitan areas. Sub-6GHz frequencies are predominantly employed in suburban and rural regions.
While sub-6GHz technology may not match the speeds of mmWave 5G, its ability to sustain connections over much greater distances makes it a more practical choice for widespread adoption. Believing Apple will likely rely on Qualcomm modems for iPhone models supporting mmWave technology, a feature mainly utilized in the United States. iPhones. While mmWave technology is still limited globally, its scarcity restricts its availability in many countries, making it exclusive to iPhones sold in the United States, where Apple only equips devices with mmWave-capable modems.
Apple’s expansion of its modem chip development further corroborates the report.
Potential All-in-One Chip
According to a recent report, Apple is reportedly developing its first modem chip, which will allegedly integrate 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS capabilities into a single, compact device. Despite seeming incongruous with Gurman’s views, that remains a fact nonetheless. While rumors swirl around Apple’s next big move, it seems unlikely that anything monumental will happen anytime soon.
According to Gurman, Apple’s self-designed 5G modem is unlikely to match Qualcomm’s level of expertise, with the custom design failing to deliver tangible benefits for users. Apple aims to transform the modem into a more sophisticated component, reducing the need for multiple chips to conserve resources and minimize board space.
While the reviews are unclear regarding whether the Apple chip will be a standalone modem or a multi-part component, it appears unlikely that Apple has achieved an all-in-one chip solution considering the reported issues with improvements.
Qualcomm Dispute
As of now, all iPhones rely on Qualcomm 5G modems, with Apple having to acquire the modem chips while also making a patent licensing payment to leverage Qualcomm’s technological know-how. In 2017, Apple filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm, alleging anticompetitive patent licensing practices and unpaid royalties exceeding $1 billion.
After filing the lawsuit, Apple sought to sever its ties with Qualcomm and instead turned to Intel for modem chips in the 2018 iPhone XS/XR models and the 2019 iPhone 11 series. Apple had previously utilised Intel chips in certain iPhone models, adopting a hybrid approach that combined Qualcomm and Intel modems across various regions, yet ultimately needed to sever all ties with Qualcomm.
As the 2018 and 2019 iPhones thrived with Intel-only chips, Apple faced a crucial need in 2020 to transition to 5G capabilities for its iPhone 12 lineup. Apple’s initial plan was to utilise Intel 5G chips; unfortunately, the company faced challenges in improving its technology. However, it eventually became apparent that Intel’s 5G chip plans were no longer on the horizon.
By the summer of 2019, Apple demanded that Intel deliver functional and testable 5G modems, a timeline that would prove challenging; meanwhile, Apple was expecting fully operational chips by early 2020, a target that ultimately seemed unrealistic given Intel’s pace. Despite exploring alternative options with Samsung and Mediatek, Apple ultimately found that Qualcomm’s modems remained their only viable choice to avoid settling with the chipmaker.
In April 2019, Apple reached a settlement with Qualcomm, bringing an end to their long-standing intellectual property dispute. In a belated move, Apple settled on paying overdue patent royalties, committing to ongoing fees for every iPhone produced, as well as a six-year licensing agreement with Qualcomm.
In 2020, Apple’s iPhone lineup leveraged Qualcomm’s 5G technology, a trend that has continued with subsequent models. Apple recently extended its modem licensing agreement with Qualcomm, meaning we can expect to see Qualcomm modems in certain devices until Apple completes its transition to internal technology.
Intel Buy
Following Apple’s settlement with Qualcomm, Intel revealed plans to discontinue its involvement in the 5G modem industry. Intel’s efforts to develop a competitive 5G modem ultimately fell short, marking a significant setback for its struggling modem business. Although Intel fulfilled its commitment to existing 4G modem buyers, former CEO Bob Swan later indicated that there was no viable route to achieving profitability and generating positive returns within the company’s smartphone modem business.
Intel has reportedly decided to divest its modem business, which could potentially impact its partnership with Apple. In July 2019, Apple acquired almost the entirety of Intel’s smartphone modem business in a landmark deal with the chip giant. Approximately 2,200 Intel employees transitioned to Apple, while the latter acquired Intel’s intellectual property, equipment, and lease agreements in a deal worth around $1 billion.
Following its acquisition of Intel’s wireless technology portfolio, Apple took ownership of more than 17,000 WiFi-related patents, with the Intel team integrating into Apple’s mobile technologies division. The acquisition was intended to accelerate Apple’s development of 5G modems; nevertheless, the company still faces delays and design challenges.
Improvement Points
Rumors of iPhones incorporating Apple-designed modem chips have persisted since 2023, when the company began leveraging its in-house expertise. Apple’s modem development hit a roadblock in mid-2022, with Kuo claiming it had “failed”, ultimately leading to stagnation and a subsequent postponement of the launch.
According to Gurman, Apple was forced to push back the launch of its Apple modem to 2025 or 2026 due to ongoing development issues, which may leave the technology “years behind” its rivals.
Apple has allegedly made significant strides in its work with Intel code. As technological advancements necessitate redesigns, the present capacity for innovation has led to the current need to modify existing systems. As Apple continues to develop its proprietary chip, another layer of complexity arises: avoiding infringement on Qualcomm patents.
According to a September 2023 report, analysts concluded that Apple’s struggles were primarily due to having overly ambitious goals, a lack of comprehension regarding the complexities involved in modem advancements, and the development of impractical prototypes that failed to meet usability standards. In late 2022, it was claimed that Apple’s chips were three years behind Qualcomm’s cutting-edge technology, potentially rendering iPhone wifi speeds inferior to competitors’.
Launch Date
Will we finally see a primary Apple modem integrated into the iPhone SE 4, expected to arrive in early 2025? As Apple continues to develop its 5G technology, it is likely that the company will expand its expertise across various divisions, incorporating a blend of Qualcomm and custom-designed chips until its in-house work on 5G modems reaches a level of excellence that enables it to replace Qualcomm entirely.
