Apple's 5G modem is going to debut sooner than expected, says Qualcomm CEO

The 2023 iPhone 15 will be the last model with a Qualcomm 5G chip, if the modem supplier's CEO is right.

Apple has long been working on making its own 5G modem chipset to replace the ones it buys from Qualcomm. While there have been many rumors of when that will happen, previously it was confirmed that Qualcomm will continue for at least the next iPhone 15.

Now Qualcomm CEO and President Cristiano Amon has spoken publicly about when Apple will replace his company's product.

Interviewed on stage at Mobile World Congress 2023, Amon told the Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern that it will probably be soon. "[We] expect that Apple will do their own modem in 2024," he said, "but if they need ours they know where to find us."

At one point, Qualcomm was reported to have told its investors that it would be producing modems for only 20% of Apple's 2023 iPhone release. That later changed to being the "vast majority" of that range.

That change appears to have been because Apple failed to produce a 5G modem of its own in time.

Apple's intention to build its own 5G chipset dates back to 2019 when it acquired Intel's smartphone modem business, including the addition of 2,200 engineers. Ultimately, building its own means not having to pay a third-party company for the facility, but there are also other benefits.

For instance, Apple could produce different 5G modem chips for different devices. Consequently, a chip for the iPhone could priortize voice calls, where an iPad might be adjusted to speed up data transfers.

Apple does appear to have a 5G modem, or at least to have expected to have one shortly. It's rumored that one reason for the alleged cancellation of the iPhone SE 4 is that Apple intended to use its own 5G chip in it, and it was performing poorly compared to Qualcomm's version.

16 Comments

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

About 1 year ago

Well, it had better be as good as or better than Qualcomm’s or the peanut gallery will be up in arms and throwing popcorn and beer cans all over the place.

techconc 275 comments · 7 Years

lkrupp said:

Well, it had better be as good as or better than Qualcomm’s or the peanut gallery will be up in arms and throwing popcorn and beer cans all over the place.

I'm sure Apple knows the target they have to hit and they have the luxury of not coming to market until they have it right. Also, I expect we'll see it integrated in to the SoC eventually for additional performance and efficiency.

avon b7 8008 comments · 20 Years

lkrupp said:

Well, it had better be as good as or better than Qualcomm’s or the peanut gallery will be up in arms and throwing popcorn and beer cans all over the place.

Would it be reasonable for Apple’s modem to be as good or better than Qualcomm's?

I doubt it.

Whatever Apple produces though, you'll have to swallow it and if it doesn't perform as well as competing modem/antenna combos, that's life.

It wouldn't be the first time Apple has taken a step backwards on performance.

Theoretically, Apple could do what Huawei has been doing for years. Add to a standard to enhance performance of its own devices without impacting standards compliance.

That’s how Huawei was able to release WiFi 6 Plus through marrying its 5G know-how with its standards based Wi-Fi solutions. In that case they were using their own Wi-Fi and 5G solutions but I can see why Apple would want the same or similar options even if in basic 5G performance for example were a bit behind the curve.

Would that be enough to keep the beer cans at bay?

EsquireCats 1268 comments · 8 Years

What I like about this most is that if true - it yet again demonstrates that analysts aren't any better than rumourmongers (or more cynically: stock price manipulators.)

danox 3393 comments · 11 Years

Boom! Apple Iteration and innovation continues.

Note: The Qualcomm CEO sounds like the CEO of Intel finally coming to the conclusion that Apple replacing them is inevitable.

Buy more shares of Apple Computer, and in light of what Qualcomm is doing with their Nuvia acquisition buy more shares of them too, you can never have enough blue chip tech stock particularly when companies are working on products that will help their long range future, that is why Appleinsider is a good source of information long before many of the analysts at Seeking Alpha or the mainstream tech sites can wrap their heads around the small print.

Repost…. Below.

Recently, there have been more rumors about Qualcomm, and Broadcom, in regards to modems and Wi-Fi type chips, and Apple, I think it’s nothing personal, just business, but Apple probably or is working on new devices or is iterating on existing devices, and that is the main motivation behind them leaving those two companies behind probably because they want to incorporate or make something smaller, how do you make everything fit in a pair of eyeglass frames? both those companies are happy to supply existing chips or are happy to collect money on patents from you, but they’re not gonna do the hard work to miniaturize anything for a new Apple device which is why Apple probably is looking to replace them in their designs.