Apple's been working on its own cellular model technology for years now, but the first iPhone model with an Apple-designed 5G modem shouldn't be expected before 2023 at the earliest.
Apple is thought to have been working on its own cellular modem for years now. The company is reportedly ready to introduce it in the iPhone and iPad Pro models to be released next year.
Cellular modem development is a tremendously complicated, expensive and time-consuming process, but that hasn't stopped Apple, which already designs a bunch of chips in-house, to set an aggressive 2022 timeline for iPhones outfitted with its own 5G baseband hardware.
Apple announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement to acquire the majority of Intel's smartphone modem business. The deal is worth $1 billion and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Included in the buyout are 2,200 Intel employees joining Apple, patents and other IP, equipment and leases.
Apple could do without Qualcomm's wireless modems in iPhones as soon as 2022.
The Information today ran a lengthy story with some interesting insider's perspective on how Apple has become frustrated with Intel's iPhone modems during its legal spat with Qualcomm.
According to a new report, Apple has been actively hiring silicon engineers for its San Diego office to work alongside the company's growing Wireless Architecture team on a years-long effort to develop a custom cellular modem for future iPhone models.
Intel today announced their very first 5G baseband processor.
The upcoming 2018 iPhone lineup might only use Intel-based modems. This news comes from Qualcomm's financial chief who confirmed that his company's modems wouldn't be included in this year's lineup. If correct, this would represent a significant change on Apple's part.
MediaTek is expected to supply Wi-Fi chips to Apple for the HomePod speaker. The Taiwanese company has bigger plans, however, as it hopes to replace Qualcomm as one of Apple's modem chip providers for iPhone, according to DigiTimes.
Intel is now manufacturing modems that will be used for the 2018 iPhone lineup. The XMM 7560 is the first Intel modem produced in-house and first to support both CDMA and GSM. Despite this, Apple will still rely on Qualcomm for some of its modem orders despite continued legal problems between the two companies, according to Nikkei.
Apple is reportedly seeking additional modem chip capacity support, with a new report Tuesday alleging that Taiwanese integrated circuitry design firm MediaTek has a chance of winning orders for iPhone baseband modems from the Cupertino tech giant.