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Apple-Designed iPhone Modems Could Take Until 2025, Intel Confirms Interest in Its Modem Business
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while Apple has the money they’re so involved in other products that developing a modem doesn’t seem to be a top priority
Qualcomm has Been the king when it comes to modems and as for Intel they’re still learning
From having IPhones with Intel or a Qualcomm modem the difference is obvious
Qualcomm has Been the king when it comes to modems and as for Intel they’re still learning
From having IPhones with Intel or a Qualcomm modem the difference is obvious
The Information has published a lengthy look into Apple's seemingly deteriorating relationship with Intel in terms of iPhone modems, leading to Apple's rekindled relationship with rival chipmaker Qualcomm last month.
The report claims that Apple's frustrations with Intel's modem efforts began much earlier than some previous reports had indicated, and involved struggles with modems for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, not just 5G smartphone modem development that Intel abandoned last month.The size and structure of Intel's mobile division made it difficult to efficiently engineer modems, with teams struggling to work together, according to multiple current and former Intel employees and industry partners cited in the report.
In a statement provided to The Information, Intel also confirmed interest in its modem business from many companies, reportedly including Apple:While it appears that Apple and Qualcomm's multi-year licensing and chipset supply agreement will result in Qualcomm supplying modems for the first 5G-enabled iPhones, expected to launch in 2020, multiple reports have indicated that Apple is on the path to developing its own cellular modems.
According to The Information, however, those in-house efforts appear to be farther away than initially thought. During interviews, the report claims Apple told prospective engineers that it expects to have its own modem ready by 2025, far later than the earliest considered possibility of 2021.
All in all, the report reaffirms the belief that Apple was so fed up with Intel's modem struggles that it had little to no choice but to settle its bitter legal battle with Qualcomm. That should result in Qualcomm modems in iPhones for at least a few years, at least until Apple finalizes its own chip.
Article Link: Apple-Designed iPhone Modems Could Take Until 2025, Intel Confirms Interest in Its Modem Business
i think most of the reporting in this article is based on self-serving conjecture and still on-going negotiation stances of apple, intel, and qualcomm.
even though it seemed that it had shaken out, still a lot of jockeying going on, between all 3 players. and it sounds to me that they all are hiding their true positions and timelines.
expect still alot of intrigue in this for the next couple of years.
macrumors simply doesn't have the journalistic knowhow to dig news out of a complicated situation.
Businesses run on Windows / Intel. In the consumer space, consumers run on Android or iOS. Combined, the iOS & Android market, are 2X the size of the Windows / Intel market
Even if Apple released their own 5G modem this year, they would still require hundreds of millions of Qulacomm 3G/4G/5G modems for all of the older model iPhones (ones they haven't even made yet) that they will sell years from now, especially now that Intel is out of the game.
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When doing business, things happen. Intel has been Apple’s partner for more than a decade, so it’s normal to try to collaborate with them. But intel dropped the ball. So what matters is the next move, and Apple decided to cut their loses with intel and deal with Qualcomm.
There’s no foolish actions here. We can all say that afterwards, but nobody would know back then.
I predict that next year you will predict something completely differnt.
This. Not only is it years of R&D, the costs are also incredibly high before you even realize a working modem.
Very nicely put. I don't think Apple ever thought they could do modem in three years, no sane engineers would have thought that. But there are many readers, where despite giving many evidence, decided Apple is King and Qualcomm is evil or what not. I guess it is the media that is the problem. ( Or it was part of a negotiation tactics to spread those words. ) Readers mindlessly believing what they read is also another problem.
My guess It really only started last year purely judging from hiring. They have been scanning Linkedin for Engineers with keywords like 5G, 4G RF, Wireless etc.... last time I heard they are looking for another 100 - 200 hiring this year. The 2015 rumours all stated because Apple were hiring a few Engineers with 4G expertise, I mean for Christ Sake, you will need people with these specific knowledge when you are buying products. Had Apple really been on hiring spree the words would leak out in no time. Not to mention there really aren't that many engineers with these experience in the pool available.
I personally hope that Apple never makes their own modems. Let Qualcomm, who has the expertise, make them. In fact, pay Qualcomm to help you integrate their modem into the (Apple's) SoC. I wouldn't go to Qualcomm for a smartphone (at this point in time*), and I don't want an Apple modem in my Apple phone. I know many will disagree.
I haven't read the entire thread yet, in fact I'm just a few posts in, but people should be very mad - I am - that Apple shipped the Intel modems if they weren't up to par (Apple's standards). We all know they weren't because Apple had to cripple some of the Qualcomm parts to make them perform like their Intel counterparts. Shame on you Apple.
Oh yeah. Maybe it would be nice if Apple fixed the damn Macbook Pro keyboards, the bad display cables etc. before they tackle the complicated stuff... Okay. Rant mode off.
I owned a Qualcomm branded phone many years ago - and yes, I had to manually pull out the antenna
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OH! THAT'S ALL??Apple has $243B in cash reserves ending Q2 2019. Not Trillions. Although I assume you were being hyperbolic.
In that case, they can't even afford to update a MacPro every 6 years.... might take 10 years.
Everything's explained clearly, now.
Next year we'll still be 5 years off from 2025 so unless Apple miraculously finishes their 5G chip five years early I don't think my prediction will change.
Until it does. That is how innovation works, it sneaks up on the dominate player. Now considering that almost every free linux version works on various non-intel processors. Considering that almost all serious apps are designed to run in or from the cloud there is no longer a tie to Intel processors. It's very easy for most applications to be recompiled and to run on multiple architectures.
We are just waiting for something to push the market over the edge.
No one knows when, or what sequence of events will start the avalanche, but I would not be holding Intel stock right now.
Every year for the last 20 years has supposed to be the year of Linux on the desktop. I'm not holding my breath.
Not necessarily. There's a lot of misunderstanding about the likely agreement. First, people forget that any phones produced in the next two-3 years will be designed around the Qualcomm modem and those phones will be sold for about a six year period and likely using the Q modems for that period, so Apple would need IP license and other issues resolved for that period of time. Second, it would be idiotic to get agreement for IP license for the best case scenario and then if Apple ran into roadblocks, have to renegotiate license with no leverage. The whole point of the agreement was to get Apple out from under the uncertainty that Intel was creating on the iPhone development path.
Thus, it highly unlikely that Apple won't have its modem ready until 2025.
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LOL. Apple has demonstrated industry leading chip design and development that is now the envy of the tech world, so much so that Google is now trying to figure out how to emulate Apple.
Apple discusses their hardware developement scheduling during job interviews.
Absolutely believable
Agreed that Apple kills it in CPUs, but Processors != Cell Chips. Totally different EE discipline.