- Apple’s 5G modem development efforts have fallen further behind, with a new report mentioning a release target of late 2025-early 2026.
- Apple wants to move away from using Qualcomm’s modems in iPhones, but its current dev efforts are lacking competitive features like mmWave support.
Qualcomm has a good stronghold on several smart components found inside of a phone. While we are all familiar with the Snapdragon SoCs that power Android flagships, Qualcomm also makes many other components used inside the phone and even across other consumer and enterprise products. Apple uses Qualcomm modems inside the iPhone, but the Cupertino firm has long desired to switch to its in-house modems. Apple may have to wait even longer, as new reports suggest that its modem plans continue to face roadblocks and delays due to technical complexity.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple’s multibillion-dollar effort to develop a modem chip for the iPhone has called further behind. It was reported back in September that we would see a switch from Qualcomm’s 5G modems to Apple’s 5G modems by 2025, but the release appears to have been further delayed to at least the end of 2025 or early 2026.