I think acquiring Intel’s patents was probably a solid decision, but it sounds like trying to build on Intel’s actual work has proven counterproductive.
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Apple Extends Modem Licensing Deal With Qualcomm Through March 2027
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Absolutely. Apple never had a chance competing with Qualcomm. Decades ago their founders wrote the book on modern digital communications theory, systems engineering, and implementation.
There's nothing wrong with Apple procuring that tech from Qualcomm.
“Homegrown”
It’s easy when you can steal IP with impunity and have access to unlimited cash and resources funded and backed by one of the most powerful governments in the world.
I hope Apple's ahead on their 6G modem game for 2030.
Edit: I wasn't trying to be funny. 2030 is the year 6G is scheduled to launch as stated by huawei, errickson, nokia and even International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Tech that allows 10Gbps 6G modems?
I hope the 2G (1991) and/or 3G (2002) radio spectrum be reassigned for 6G so it has better performance than 5G.
Edit: I wasn't trying to be funny. 2030 is the year 6G is scheduled to launch as stated by huawei, errickson, nokia and even International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Tech that allows 10Gbps 6G modems?
I hope the 2G (1991) and/or 3G (2002) radio spectrum be reassigned for 6G so it has better performance than 5G.
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Understandably a difficult task to produce a cellular modem comparable to Qualcomm. But people said the same about CPU's, and now Apple is the industry leader in performance per watt. Qualcomm has even admitted that they expect Apple to be successful at some point.
There you have it, confirmation that Intel modems are cancelled or at least significantly delayed.
Sometimes it’s just easier to have hardware partners.
Personally, I don’t think we need a custom modem and a custom display and a custom storage chip, etc.
Just make a good product and good software to match. The only people who care about this are shareholders.
Personally, I don’t think we need a custom modem and a custom display and a custom storage chip, etc.
Just make a good product and good software to match. The only people who care about this are shareholders.
Apple knows it can’t build a competing Modem nobody wants to go through the struggles we all did with the Intel modems. Apple must bow down and kiss Qualcomm ring . Oh yes they must .
CPU/GPU chip design, which Johny Srouji brought to Apple, is far different than novel modern digital communications theory and design. Especially when considering Qualcomms 150,000+ patents covering the field they essentially brought to life decades ago, which will be difficult to not step on.
Not saying it's impossible. Just extremely unlikely. It's a field where fractions of a dB in performance hugely matter.
Much better for Apple to purchase chips (or possibly a design Apple can fab) from Qualcomm and know you're getting the absolute best performance. And saving a lot of money in the process.
My last engineering job was at a small company (eventually acquired by a huge US semiconductor company) that developed full-custom communications oriented signal processing ASICs for the cellular telecom industry and military/govt. customers. At one point we considered developing some special communications chips that could have overlapped some of Qualcomm's tech in some aspects. Or overlapped some Qualcomm tech we weren't even aware of. It didn't take a lot of thought knowing that going forward would have been very foolish as they could have easily litigated us to bankruptcy.
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I envision it's impossible not to use QCs patents.
Each letter in each line of code:
"E" - safe
"N" - safe
"D" - saf... no wait, patent 145,553
"Can we do it without the D?"
Qualcomm made a big mistake when they made an enemy out of Apple. They might not be there yet, but they have an axe to grind with them, and that’s just going to motivate them to pour more resources into it until they are successful. Apple has shown that they hold a grudge, and that it motivates them to do what needs to be done.
Apple failed on the infamous Airpower all in one charging device and now they have failed on the 5G modem development. Qualcomm will be in all iPhones until 6G debuts in 6-7 more years
Apple can freely compete with Qualcomm on CPU/GPU design because both companies license the ARM architecture and have freedom to innovate/customize the core ARM designs. Not the case when it comes to modems.
For modem development Apple is handcuffed by all of Qualcomm's patents. Intel's modem chips are not impressive but it's especially difficult to build a new modem that doesn't infringe on both Qualcomm AND Intel patents, so Apple eliminated one barrier by purchasing Intel's modem business and IP before someone else acquired the patents. But that still leaves one modem juggernaut to contend with and Qualcomm's patent portfolio isn't for sale.
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And Qualcomm will likely be leading in 6G. Nothing wrong at all with Apple using or licensing Qualcomm chips or tech.
I have no inside knowledge... but I wouldn't be shocked at all if Apple's communications systems engineers (the people who *should* have a deep background in modern digital communications theory and come up with novel signal processing algorithms - without stepping on patents) don't have the wealth of decades of experience Qualcomm's engineers have.
Without that, there's no reason to go forward with an in-house modem design. Going forward, just purchase Qualcomm's chips and you'll more than likely have the best performance
After the whole Apple watch ban and fiasco for the blood oxygen tech with Masimo, I don't think Apple want to risk another ban on the iPhone. It will be hard even to invent new modem technology as it's just built upon old patents.
This is how you do it if you want to give your customers the best products you can with the best components inside. For the display, it’s Sammy. For the camera sensor, it’s my childhood tech dream company, SONY. For the modem, it’s Qualcomm.
Yeah and some companies are too big to buy in order to obtain those critical patents like they’ve done in the past with smaller companies. The patent wall of frustration is becoming real for Apple. “Boy have we patented it” didn’t just apply to Apple over the years.
I have said this here before that Apple could build a modem around Globalstar's Band N53 spectrum which is at the top of 2.4 Ghz's which straddles Wifi and bluetooth. Band N53 has terrestrial authority to work in TDD-LTE networks. Globalstar has brought on Paul Jacobs as CEO who was running Qualcomm up until 2018. Jacobs father helped start Qualcomm. Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon modems since X65 can use Band N53 world wide through 3GPP.
My guess is that Apple couldn’t match Qualcomms performance without infringing on their patents.
Cannot think this was the intention with the patent system. The ridiculous patent hoarding the last decades has for long been a problem for smaller inventors that cannot afford expensive settlements. When even those with literally unlimited resources struggle, something is certainly wrong.