After processors, Apple makes its own modem for iPhones; May drop Qualcomm in future
Apple has made huge strides in the chipset and processor market. Although it was already using some of its processors in iPhones and MacBooks, it made a big leap this year by introducing the M1 chipset for Mac. And now the company is planning to make its own iPhone modem chips.
The news comes from a Bloomberg report that said Apple’s head of chipset and processor segment has confirmed internally that a second chip transition is also underway and is in its early stages at the moment. This will concern the cellular modem. This means Apple could replace Qualcomm’s modem in future iPhones.
This year, we launched the development of our first internal cellular modem which will enable another key strategic transition, said Johny Srouji, senior vice president of hardware at Apple, according to Bloomberg.
However, experts saw it coming when Apple bought Intel’s smartphone modem business last year to do more work on it. With this move, Apple could at least be less dependent on Qualcomm.
Having a homemade cell modem will also mean that iPhones and iPads that come with it will be slightly better and offer better battery life. This is because it will work well with other chipsets in the device made by Apple.
Last year, Apple and Qualcomm struck a surprise deal, in which Apple agreed to use Qualcomm’s modems for its iPhones for the next six years. According to the Global Patent License Agreement, this agreement can also be extended for two years.
Thus, it is expected that once the Apple-Qualcomm agreement ends, Apple will switch to its own modems.
