Apple has stalled with its 5G modem for iPhone: it is at least 3 years behind Qualcomm

Since 2019, one of the main goals Manzana is to develop your own cellular chip and reduce dependence on Qualcomm. However, the task turned out to be much more difficult than expected. Developers in Cupertino have reached a dead end in developing a 5G modem for the iPhone, and the prospects for the near future are not encouraging.

This is stated in the report Wall Street Magazine, which sheds light on the challenges of one of the boldest projects Apple has taken on in years. An initiative particularly influenced unrealistic goals and poor management of work teams.

According to the aforementioned media reports, Apple has invested billions of dollars in developing its own 5G modem for the iPhone. I get very bad results. Neither the technology acquired from Intel nor the hiring of countless engineers “stolen” from that company and Qualcomm would be sufficient to achieve goals that were too ambitious even for Apple.

Those responsible for creating the 5G modem for the iPhone will be scattered in different places, both in the US and in other countries, and will suffer from the absence of a specific leader. Although the project is under the direction of the historical Johnny Srugiso far it will prove to be much more traumatic than expected.

Why Apple isn’t promoting its 5G modem for iPhone

At the end of 2019, Apple would set a goal to create its own 5G modem for the iPhone. will be ready by 2023. A goal that was internally considered unattainable, but the impracticability of which was realized only at the end of last year.

When the people of Cupertino began testing the first prototypes of their chip, they realized that they were on a path to disaster. The component was simply unusable.. It was slow, overheated and, according to sources WSJhis circuitry was so large that it took up half of the iPhone’s internal space.

This forced Apple to change its roadmap. The 5G modem itself will debut not on the iPhone 15, but on the iPhone 16 in 2024. But everything indicates that this plan was also abandoned. Let’s not forget that Qualcomm recently announced an extension to its agreement to continue supplying its cellular chip to Apple until 2026.

Prototypes of Apple’s 5G iPhone modem, according to report Today they are 3 years behind Qualcomm’s best chip. Catching up with the current supplier – which was once a mortal enemy – will not happen overnight and will likely cost several billion dollars more.

Extensive Journey

But the problems will not only be technical. Bureaucracy will also play a role. Apple would immediately understand the difficulty of certifying a cellular modem that works with various cell phone technologies around the world. And the end result is a paradox that a project born in order to free itself from dependence on third parties is so tied to their last word. In this case, regulators and telecommunications companies.

Jaydeep Ranade, who led Apple’s wireless technology development until 2018, weighed in on the matter. In his opinion, the complexity of developing a 5G modem for the iPhone far exceeds the complexity of developing any other semiconductor device. “Just because Apple makes the best processors on the planet, it’s ridiculous to think that it can also make a modem”He said Wall Street Magazine.