Apple Likely To Stop Development Of Its 5G Modem For iPhones: Report – News18

Apple could stop working on the 5G modem for iPhones which will come as a big and happy news for chip maker Qualcomm. The Cupertino-based giant has reportedly decided to stop the in-house development of the modem which could have pushed 5G connectivity for iPhones and left Qualcomm working without partners like Apple in the near future.

The report comes via a South Korean web portal which claims that Apple has stopped the investment in this division and is also on the verge closing down the people working on the modem. In fact, it was estimated that the 4th gen iPhone SE model will debut the new modem but those plans look well and truly over.

Many experts said that Apple could have the in-house 5G modem running in an iPhone by 2025 but these new developments suggest Qualcomm has more reasons to be happy about, as the dependence on the chip giant from Apple could help the company entice more players as they turn them into customers.

Apple and Qualcomm surprisingly renewed their deal which brings the latter’s modem to iPhones at least until 2026. Many assumed that Apple might be delaying the project to make it a success and after 2026, it will finally have the modem ready to be packaged. But if Apple is indeed closing down the plans for its 5G modem, then it is possible that it could continue with its advanced focus on the M and A series chips that power the Macs and iPhones, respectively.

Apple’s focus on the modem project started when it decided to buy Intel’s modem unit in 2019 for a reported $1 billion. To be fair, Apple has not said how quickly it plans to ramp up the use of its own chips. Add to that, Qualcomm had recently claimed in its financial projections that only a fifth of Apple’s iPhones will use its chips by 2026 but those figures might look completely different in the coming years.