Apple extends contract with Qualcomm as uncertainty grows over its own 5G modem for iPhone

In the presentation of financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024 Qualcomm announced that Manzana executed a “unilateral option” to extend its global patent licensing agreement until March 2027. News that once again creates uncertainty around the development of its own 5G modem for the iPhone.

Chipera San Diego did not provide further details about this situation, which is truly astonishing. Recall that in September 2023, Qualcomm announced that it would continue to supply 5G modems for the iPhone until 2026. The company estimates that this component will be present in about 20% of Apple mobile phones this year.

The news caused a stir as it suggested Cupertino residents were facing further delays in developing their own cellular chip for the iPhone. Last November, Mark Gurman of Bloombergindicated that the problems Apple faced were such that its own 5G modem might not debut with the iPhone SE 4 until late 2025 or early 2026.

But the story didn’t end there. That same month, some mobile industry sources indicated that Apple had allegedly abandoned its 5G modem for the iPhone. However, these data have not been confirmed insiders more famous, which usually provide reliable information about what happens behind the closed doors of Apple Park.

With the extension of the licensing agreement with Qualcomm until 2027, this latest rumor has become relevant again. Has Apple canceled its plan to develop its own 5G modem for the iPhone? Are there any new delays on the way? It’s impossible to know yet, but uncertainty is growing.

Apple’s problems when creating a 5G modem for iPhone

Apple began working on a 5G modem for the iPhone after purchasing Intel’s component division in 2019. However, since then the hardware implementation has suffered many delays. It was initially assumed that the Apple smartphone would adopt it in 2023, but this clearly did not happen.

Reportedly Wall Street Magazine At the time, Apple’s 5G modem was three years behind the technology Qualcomm currently provides for the iPhone. And he even mentioned that the first versions of the chip They were unusable because they took up too much interior space. There have also been reports of overheating issues and even a lack of compatibility with mmWave technology, which enables faster data transfer speeds on 5G networks.

However, not all shortcomings are related to the hardware. The software to run the iPhone’s 5G modem, originally developed by Intel, would be extremely poor. To the point where Apple would have to rewrite the code almost from scratch.

While it will continue to rely on Qualcomm, that doesn’t mean there won’t be connectivity news in Apple’s next phones. A recent leak claims that the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max will be equipped with a Snapdragon X75 5G modem. He stands out for his support advanced 5Gand also compatible with WiFi 7 via FastConnect 7800 technology.