Nobody wants 6G modems, 5G is overkill, and 4G LTE is the only needed tech.
WIFI is very complicated tech.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple to Start Transitioning Away From Qualcomm Modem Chips in Late 2024 or 2025
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
That's a giant lie... The M1 is not an ARM-designed chip that Apple "tweaked". They built it from the ground up. CPU, GPU, NPU, NoC, media engine, image pipeline, everything. And if you care enough to post here you should know that already.
There have also been no general price increases in the USA. In fact, the value for dollar has gone way up since the introduction of the M1. (Same for the iphones, at least the pros, arguably the base models too, considering inflation over the last couple years). I'm sorry things are pricier in Britain, but there are reasons for that that have nothing to do with Apple (and which I can't talk about here or the post will be removed).
It's a completely ridiculous idea, though. 6G isn't due for at least 8 years, though realistically I expect it'll be longer than that. They're not holding up for that.
It really isn't. That's the reason why every company from UNISOC, Renesas, to Realtek makes a Wi-Fi/BT solution.
WiFi isn't rocket science for sure; you just need to pay attention and test, test, test. There are now plenty of tools that allow you to to interop testing.
The older stacks are the ones that are worse, because they've had to build on top of their 802.11b code. Those first-generation implementations are probably a mess, and people have been hacking around those for more than 20 years at this point.
Slowly getting delayed. Will be good to see the improvements of the Apple designed chip.
funny way of thinking))
Apple don't have Intel engineers, they have they own engineers. And they not use Intel tech (and Intel is not something bad)
So, early as 2024 right? Which in reality means 2026. Because the chip isn’t ready because it still doesn’t meet Apple’s industry standard. Lol.
Considering the poor experience with Intel modern, I’m a little bit concerned about leaving Qualcomm
Baseband is the more pressing issue because of Qualcomm's comparably expensive licensing, adding another couple of Dollars per device on top of the hardware cost.
WiFi is just cheap and pretty expendable. Broadcom can't charge too much, because there are about 8 other vendors who would love to take their business.
Nobody cares if your WiFi is Broadcom, Intel, Mediatek, SI, Marvell, Realtek, Qualcomm etc.
The tech industry knows that both Qualcomm and Broadcom hold the patents to make wireless transmission and recieving very very good so unless Apple have agreed licensing terms with both companies to use their patents then I doubt very much Apple is going to be able to design and build their own modem chips to rival both Qualcomm and Broadcom.
In fairness, Apple eventually got there with their M-series desktop chips, so I would imagine they'll eventually get there with their modem too. I wonder if the problem is just a general failure to deliver or that they're struggling to make a chip that avoids potentially infringing Qualcomm patents?
Apple is always late to the modem party. For those with iPhones who had the Qualcomm modem, they provided better sensitivity and performance especially in poor coverage areas compared to the non-Qualcomm models.
I doubt it, but I would be interested to know for sure!
LOL,
2020, Apple can move mountains, 2021, 2022, 2023, now 2024......
And that WiFi Chip Rumour? Do you know why? As I have been stating it since *2016* every time Apple were about to renew their Broadcom contract they will put up public pressure and PR campaign just to force Broadcom to lower their price or else completely lose Apple's business which is 80 to 90 %+ of their WiFi revenue.
And and you know what, every time this happen Broadcom will respond back and leaking PR information about selling their entire WiFi business to another company.
2020, Apple can move mountains, 2021, 2022, 2023, now 2024......
And that WiFi Chip Rumour? Do you know why? As I have been stating it since *2016* every time Apple were about to renew their Broadcom contract they will put up public pressure and PR campaign just to force Broadcom to lower their price or else completely lose Apple's business which is 80 to 90 %+ of their WiFi revenue.
And and you know what, every time this happen Broadcom will respond back and leaking PR information about selling their entire WiFi business to another company.
Hmm Question to myself and shouting out loud ... Quallcomm single Producer of a 5G Modem in several SmartPhones, iPhone / Android .... how the EU or a Monopoly institution is not suing Quallcomm ... well i know they dont make any Phones so NO ONE REALLY CARE.
We remember how bad the iPhones were that had Intel baseband vs Qualcomm. I even went out of my way to get an unlocked iPhone over the Att model (and lost out on some significant employee discounts) as the Intel baseband iPhone had such bad reception in my rural area. I’ll be surprised if they pull this out as the underlying tech and patents they bought from Intel is likely going to be the foundation of this new Apple baseband.
"It’s a ARM chip that Apple tweaked a bit themselves." :-D LOL ... well if its so simple then Tweak an ARM chip yourself and put it in a Laptop then you can earn money.
I don’t care if they use Qualcomm or in house modems. I just wish they would improve the modem and / or antenna so that it works better in areas with weak signal. It’s downright embarrassing to see users with $99 tracfones from Walmart that can use their phones in places I can’t because their cheap phones have better signal reception than my iPhones.
Apple wants to start replacing the Qualcomm modem chips that it uses in iPhones as soon as 2024, according to a new report from Bloomberg. Apple has been working on in-house modem chip technology for several years now, with the aim of reducing its reliance on Qualcomm.
Apple initially wanted to introduce its own modem chips as early as 2023, but Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in late 2022 that Apple would need to continue to rely on Qualcomm in the near future as Apple's development efforts "failed." At the time, Kuo said that Apple would continue working on its 5G chips, but that development would not be done in time for the launch of the 2023 iPhones, which Bloomberg's report agrees with. Modem chip development has seen delays, and Apple will use a slow rollout to end its reliance on Qualcomm. Apple will start with using its own modem chip in a single device before expanding the rollout to other devices. The transition away from Qualcomm could take up to three years.
In addition to transitioning to its own in-house chips starting in 2024, Apple wants to stop using wireless components from Broadcom in 2025. Apple is working on a WiFi and Bluetooth chip that would replace the components that it is currently sourcing from Broadcom. Apple in 2020 signed a three and a half-year deal with Broadcom for wireless components and modules, with that deal set to expire midway through 2023.
While separate components to replace hardware sourced from Qualcomm and Broadcom are in development right now, Bloomberg says Apple is also working on a chip that will combine the cellular modem, WiFi, and Bluetooth functions into a single component. Broadcom also supplies Apple with radio-frequency chips and chips for wireless charging, both of which Apple is working on replacing.
Apple designs its own A-series chips for the iPhone and M-series chips for the Mac, and replacing modem chips and wireless components has been a priority ever since its Qualcomm dispute. Apple launched a legal battle against Qualcomm in 2017, accusing Qualcomm of unfairly collecting royalties for technologies it had nothing to do with. Apple wanted to transition away from Qualcomm with the shift to 5G to stop paying Qualcomm's fees and instead use Intel technology, but Intel was not able to manufacture 5G chips that met Apple's standards.
Apple was forced to settle its lawsuit with Qualcomm and has since used Qualcomm 5G modem chips for the iPhone and iPad lineups. Apple in 2019 purchased Intel's modem chip business to get a head start on chip development, and 2024 may be the soonest that the technology is finally advanced enough for Apple to phase out Qualcomm.
Article Link: Apple to Start Transitioning Away From Qualcomm Modem Chips in Late 2024 or 2025
