Following reports that Apple’s custom 5G modem has hit a snag, Qualcomm has confirmed it would provide the majority of the 5G models for next year’s iPhones (iPhone 15). The San Diego-based chip maker made it known during its most recent earnings call (Q4 2022), where it was revealed that the company will now supply 5G modem to Apple till at least 2025.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Qualcomm initially expected to only supply 20-percent of the 5G modems required by Apple for the next iPhone series. When iFixit pulled apart the iPhone 14 Pro Max, it was revealed that the 5G modem onboard was the Snapdragon X65. In similar view, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X70 5G modem (Snapdragon X70 Modem-RF System) is next in line to provide 5G capability to 2023 iPhones and the yet-to-be-announced Snapdragon X75 5G modem will be used in 2024.
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The X70 modem provides up to 10Gbps peak download speed, up to 3.5Gbps peak upload speed and up to 60% enhanced battery life. Reflecting on the past iPhone models, the iPhone 13 series reportedly used the Snapdragon X60 5G modem, while the iPhone 12 line-up used the Snapdragon X55. Apple will have to wait till at least 2025 to be able to use its custom 5G modem in the iPhone.
Since its 2019 acquisition of Intel’s smartphone modem business, Apple has been working on its in-house 5G modem to reduce its dependency on Qualcomm for components. The company took the same route with Intel when it started producing its M-series chips for Mac computers. It hopes to exert maximum control over its production and reduce its dependency on others.
PS: Apple designs its chips and TSMC does the production.