Apple has been betting big to develop in-house cellular modems that will be used in iPhones. The tech giant has invested billions of dollars to curb its reliance on Qualcomm for the modems. The company has been trying to make its own model since 2018 and it acquired the entirety of Intel’s smartphone modem division in 2019 to support these efforts. It is rumored that iPhone SE 4 launching in early 2025 may feature Apple’s custom-designed 5G modem. Although a modem may not yield immediate improvements for users, it can change the way how future iPhones may look and work.
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Apple looking to play the long game
As per latest ‘Power On’ newsletter by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple may play the long game with modem development. He believed that Apple’s custom modem will not offer noticeable benefits for users, unlike the transition to Apple silicon. He also refrains from telling how big the benefits will be in the near term. However, Gurman suggests that the modem can change the way iPhones look and work. As per Gurman, Apple is hoping that “its modem will evolve into a more advanced component that could ultimately change the way an iPhone looks and works.”
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“Down the road, there are plans for Apple to fold its modem design into a new wireless chip that handles Wi-Fi and Bluetooth access. That would create a single connectivity component, potentially improving reliability and battery life. There’s also the possibility that Apple could one day combine all of this into the device’s main system on a chip, or SoC. That could further cut costs and save space inside the iPhone, allowing for more design choices.” He said in his newsletter.
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For over a decade, Apple has been relying on modems that are designed by Qualcomm.
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