Qualcomm has announced a new three-year contract to supply Apple with 5G modem chips, which means Apple’s efforts to develop its own modems will not materialize in the near future. Despite reports of Apple’s internal team working on modems for several years, The Wall Street Journal has reported on the internal issues that have hindered Apple’s progress. The initial plan was to implement these modems in iPhones this year or next, but testing revealed issues with both performance and excessive heat generation. Additionally, the circuit boards required for the modems were too large, taking up half the space inside an iPhone, rendering them unusable. This setback has left Apple three years behind Qualcomm’s latest chip.
There are two driving forces behind Apple’s pursuit of developing its own modems. Firstly, it seeks to build on the success of in-house modem development to gain a competitive advantage in terms of both performance and long-term cost reduction. Secondly, there is an ongoing legal dispute with Qualcomm since 2017 regarding modem licensing, with Apple reluctantly agreeing to settle the matter in 2019 by purchasing modems from Qualcomm due to insufficient supply. Consequently, Apple aims to reduce reliance on Qualcomm in the long run.
Apple’s internal modem development plan, codenamed Sinope, was initiated in 2018 under the leadership of CEO Tim Cook and Johny Srouji, head of hardware technologies. This project has involved attempts to recruit engineers from Qualcomm and the establishment of a research office in San Diego, where Qualcomm is based. In 2019, Apple also acquired Intel’s modem business with the target of using their own modems in iPhones by 2023.
Former Qualcomm executives have commented on the complexity of developing modems for mobile network communication, which is more intricate than producing processors for specific devices. Modems need to support the operations of various cellular networks worldwide, not just the latest 5G standard, but also 2G, 3G, and 4G in some countries. The testing process is particularly time-consuming, requiring compatibility with each mobile network. Apple’s proposed timeline for achieving this is nearly impossible.
Despite the deviations from the original plan, the report confirms that Apple is still determined to succeed in developing its own modems to end its reliance on Qualcomm.
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