Apple is reportedly gearing up to move away from Qualcomm and shift to its own, custom 5G modem chip within two years’ time. According to MacRumors, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated in an investor note that starting 2023, Apple should have its own 5G modem design as part of the 2023 iPhones, therefore removing its reliance on Qualcomm entirely. The latter presently supplies the 5G modem that can be found in Apple’s latest generation (and the very first 5G) iPhones – the iPhone 12 series. The move, while significant, isn’t particularly surprising, since the company has been long rumoured to be making its own 5G modem chip.
Word about Apple planning to make its own 5G modem design started way back when Apple and Qualcomm were at loggerheads regarding a patent infringement lawsuit. While Qualcomm won a billion-dollar out of court settlement with Apple and resumed friendly relationships with the Cupertino giant, the latter wasn’t apparently quite happy with how things went. Prior to the settlement, Apple was believed to have tasked Intel, a global chipmaking behemoth in its own right (but not quite so in smartphones), to make a 5G radio chipset that would feature in the first 5G iPhones.
While Intel was seemingly at the closing stages of developing the 5G modem for Apple iPhones, it failed to match a deadline for undisclosed reasons – subsequent to which Apple and Qualcomm reached a middle ground as well. Apple is said to have cancelled its deal with Intel following this, but shortly afterwards, had announced the acquisition of Intel’s mobile radio chipset manufacturing division. This move was seen as an act of clear intent by Apple to acquire the rights to various patents linked to 5G modems owned by Intel, which in turn would help the company develop its own modems.
Earlier this year, a Barclays investor report had also stated that Apple would use its 2023 iPhones to debut its own 5G modem design, and the latest report simply corroborates this information. In addition, Kuo reportedly forecasts that losing Apple as a client would be a pretty momentous occasion for Qualcomm, which may find it difficult to retain big name clients in the 5G modem space among Android OEMs. Calling high-end 5G Android phones sales across the world “sluggish”, Kuo seemingly added that Qualcomm “will be forced to compete for more orders in the low-end market to compensate for Apple’s order loss.”
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