Qualcomm CEO Expects Apple's 5G Chip to Start Rolling Out Next Year

[MacRumors]

Speaking at the MWC 2023 conference today, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said Apple's rumored 5G chip could be ready next year.

"We expect that Apple will do their own modem in 2024, but if they need ours they know where to find us," said Amon, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern. His comment was shared by tech analyst Carolina Milanesi.

Qualcomm is currently the exclusive supplier of 5G modems for Apple devices, including the entire iPhone 14 lineup, but Apple has long been rumored to be designing its own 5G chip as an in-house replacement. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last month reported that Apple initially plans to use the chip in just one new product, such as a high-end iPhone model, and would fully phase out Qualcomm's modems about three years later.

Based on the 2024 timeframe that Amon provided, it's possible that Apple's 5G chip could debut in at least one iPhone 16 model. It's also possible that Apple could introduce the 5G chip in a lower-volume product first, such as an iPad. It's unclear how Apple's chip would perform compared to Qualcomm's modems, but the switch to an in-house design would likely reduce Apple's production costs over time.

In the meantime, all iPhone 15 models are expected to be equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X70 modem, which has further cellular speed and power efficiency improvements compared to the Snapdragon X65 found in all iPhone 14 models. Qualcomm also recently announced its latest Snapdragon X75 modem, which could still be used in some of Apple's future devices amid the gradual transition to its own 5G chip.

Update: In a tweet today, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said it is still undetermined if iPhone 16 models will be equipped with Apple's 5G chip. Kuo said the decision will depend on whether Apple can overcome technical challenges related to mmWave and satellite connectivity.

Article Link: Qualcomm CEO Expects Apple's 5G Chip to Start Rolling Out Next Year

 

[hch720]

Maybe this will go into iPhone 16 “ultra”

 

[Adoniram]

It would be wise to put this into something like the iPhone SE or an iPad to start, unless apple is really confident that this will be a breakthrough device like the M-series chips… but modems are in a different world of difficulty.

 

[neuropsychguy]

It would be wise to put this into something like the iPhone SE or an iPad to start, unless apple is really confident that this will be a breakthrough device like the M-series chips… but modems are in a different world of difficulty.

Those would be good options. It doesn't need to be a breakthrough modem as much as be close enough to Qualcomm's modems. That's the real challenge.

 

[nt5672]

How about waiting until it works reliably. Maybe give it 4 or 5 more years.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

To this day, I still believe 4G LTE is faster than 5G. Sometimes 5G takes forever to load and the coverage is also not available everywhere.

 

[Robert.Walter]

How about waiting until it works reliably. Maybe give it 4 or 5 more years.

If I were a Qualcomm investor I’d say this too.

 

[adamw]

Hope they thoroughly test any new 5G modem chips before Apple includes it in any new models of iPhones.

 

[dlewis23]

To this day, I still believe 4G LTE is faster than 5G.

If you are in the US, it is not. There are certainly cases where X location and sometimes LTE is faster than 5G and that can often be because that 5G is not really "5G".

But as an average across the country 5G is faster and the gap is getting a lot wider. Also now 5G Standalone is finally really rolling out and 5G at over 500 Mbps is becoming more common, 1 Gbps + 5G is not far off from being common place.

 

[Robert.Walter]

"We expect that Apple will do their own modem in 2024, but if they need ours they know where to find us,"

This is about as definitive as it gets.

Given the long timeframes gor locking in component orders, he must already see a drop in future orders, or contracts have changed to allow apple the option to reduce order commitments at some point in the near future.

 

[nt5672]

If I were a Qualcomm investor I’d say this too.

I'm not, but I remember when I switched from Nokia to iPhone 1 and the reduction in quality at the time. Nokia had the best radio engineers known to mankind, Apple antenna's (and whatever chip they used initially) not-so-much.

Apple has never shown a pension for good RF design. Look at all of the WiFi and BlueTooth problems that still exists today.

 

[citysnaps]

I'm skeptical Apple's modem will meet or exceed the performance of Qualcomm's.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

My recollection is Apple never disclosed in advance which iPhone SKUs had INTC vs QCOM modems. It was only discovered during teardown reviews. Assuming Apple repeats itself, sounds like it might not be a good idea to be an early adopter.

 

[dwaltwhit]

Who else manufactures modems for phones?

 

[szw-mapple fan]

How about waiting until it works reliably. Maybe give it 4 or 5 more years.

How do you know it needs 4 or 5 more years to work reliably? Apple is building off of Intel’s modem IP that they acquired in 2019 and it’s been 4 years since Apple took over and started development already.

 

[anakin44011]

I still haven't found an instance where I've been on my phone and thought that I needed (or would even notice) 5G speeds.

Better coverage? Hell yes...I'm constantly navigating one or two bars. But faster download speed? On a phone? Not yet...

What am I missing?

 

[Alexwastaken]

Maybe this will go into iPhone 16 “ultra”

The chip was created to avoid fees, and have more control. The first device to have the new chip will be the next to go out after the chip is done. Qualcomm is the leader in the field, and unless patent laws suddenly change, that's not changing anytime soon. Apples chip won't be better than Qualcomms current offering and may be a little worst at first. Not only is it no point to save it for the flagship, but it'll cost more not to use it right away.

 

[jimbobb24]

I would prefer they introduce it on the low end phones and the high end phones keep Qualcomm until apple modem prices itself. What if it fails…people will pay for pro to get a worse phone?

 

[tuckerjj]

It would be wise to put this into something like the iPhone SE or an iPad to start, unless apple is really confident that this will be a breakthrough device like the M-series chips… but modems are in a different world of difficulty.

The breakthrough will be not having to pay Qualcomm a percentage of the total device cost so we can finally see these on the Mac. Let’s start with the MacBook Pros.

 

[Alexwastaken]

I still haven't found an instance where I've been on my phone and thought that I needed (or would even notice) 5G speeds.

Better coverage? Hell yes...I'm constantly navigating one or two bars. But faster download speed? On a phone? Not yet...

What am I missing?

They made it to avoid fees from their current chip provider. They probably won't even mention it on stage since it won't better than the chip they're removing. You aren't missing anything but the battery life may improve, so that's something to look forward to.

 

[LlamaLarry]

If you are in the US, it is not. There are certainly cases where X location and sometimes LTE is faster than 5G and that can often be because that 5G is not really "5G".

I live in rural-ish VA and more often than not I will get the AT&T 5G icon but it runs like poo, so I have to switch it to LTE and it works perfectly fine. Seems like setting the 5G flag is the easy part, upgrading the tower backhaul seems to be missing in their buildout outside of urban areas of VA, NC, SC, WV.

 

[Juraj22]

M3 Macbook Pro line with 5G modem please.

 

[davidf18]

M3 Macbook Pro line with 5G modem please.

There should certainly be the option as with the iPads. It is annoying to have it on my iPad but not my 16" Macbook Pro. As things are, I have to use tethering which has data limits on the Macbook Pro, but not the iPad Pro cellular.

 

[k1121j]

Wonder what this will do to qualcomms bottom line.

 

[nimitz9]

"We expect that Apple will do their own modem in 2024, but if they need ours they know where to find us,"

This is about as definitive as it gets.

Given the long timeframes gor locking in component orders, he must already see a drop in future orders, or contracts have changed to allow apple the option to reduce order commitments at some point in the near future.

Very good point, Apple likes to lock-in production well in advance. Anybody heard anything about Apple securing more future production from TSMC( like for a new Apple modem chip).