Apple Reportedly Wants to Have a Custom 5G Modem Ready for Use in Some Products by 2021

Apple yesterday announced that it has agreed to acquire the majority of Intel's smartphone modem business. The $1 billion transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approvals.

ipad iphone duo ios 12
Understandably, the acquisition may enable Apple to accelerate development of its own 5G modem, with Reuters citing a source who claims the iPhone maker wants to have an in-house chip ready for use in some of its products by 2021, compared to previously reported timeframes of between 2022 and 2025.


Apple's transition to custom 5G modems will likely happen in phases, starting with lower-end and older models of devices, according to the report. Apple has a multiyear chipset supply agreement with Qualcomm, and a six-year patent license agreement, so it certainly does not have to rush the process.

The report does not explicitly mention the ‌iPhone‌, so the first product with an Apple-designed modem could very well end up being an iPad. In any case, the transition away from Qualcomm will likely take years, as its modems lead the industry in performance and worldwide compatibility.

In the interim, Intel is expected to supply LTE modems for 2019 iPhones, with Apple returning to Qualcomm for the first 5G-enabled iPhones in 2020.

Tags: 5G, Qualcomm

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Apple Says iOS 26 Won't Be Available on These iPhone Models

Tuesday June 10, 2025 6:58 am PDT by
Apple this week revealed that iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. That means that iOS 18 is the end of the road for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, which were all released in 2018. However, those devices will continue to receive security updates for at least a few more years. iOS 26 is compatible with the following iPhone models: iPhone 16e iPhone...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...

Top Rated Comments

TheShadowKnows! Avatar
77 months ago
Qualcomm is about to lose the war. Couldn't have happened to "nicer" folks.
Dude, I am amused. What has Qualcomm ever done to you, personally?

And, on topic, which company is "nice" when negotiating advantage?
[Apple told its sapphire supplier ‘Put on your big boy pants’]
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lone Deranger Avatar
77 months ago
This from a company who can't even make a wireless charger? Hahahahahahahahaa.... :D






(....and before the Apple Defense League minions jump down my throat: it's a joke, relax )
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anshuvorty Avatar
77 months ago
I just don't understand how a change in management can result in a change of performance in these chips. Can someone explain why Apple acquiring Intel's miserable Modem's division, which couldn't produce Qualcomm-levels of performance in these 4G chips, suddenly being managed by Apple, will allow this same team to produce chips that will beat Qualcomm's designed chips in 2-5 years? If Intel couldn't make this team produce great chips, how can Apple make this same team produce great chips?

AKA, what does Apple have that Intel doesn't have?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Abazigal Avatar
77 months ago
I just don't understand how a change in management can result in a change of performance in these chips. Can someone explain why Apple acquiring Intel's miserable Modem's division, which couldn't produce Qualcomm-levels of performance in these 4G chips, suddenly being managed by Apple, will allow this same team to produce chips that will beat Qualcomm's designed chips in 2-5 years? If Intel couldn't make this team produce great chips, how can Apple make this same team produce great chips?

AKA, what does Apple have that Intel doesn't have?
My guess is that Apple won't be subject to the same business considerations that Intel has.

I might be wrong, but while Apple was pretty much Intel's only customer for their modems, Intel's modems were still designed for the entire industry. When your only concern is that your own modems need only work with your own devices, as opposed to every other smartphone on the market, that gives engineers a lot more leeway on what they can do (and what they don't need to do).

So Intel's modems don't have to be strictly better than Qualcomm's. They simply need to do what Apple needs it to do, and between that and the hardware / software integration that Apple is famous for, they just might be able to trick out superior (or at least, comparable) performance.

In a sense, it's like how Apple was able to use its clout to push developers towards converting their apps to 64-bit, which meant their A-series processors no longer need to support 32-bit code, while Qualcomm's chips probably still do.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
x-evil-x Avatar
77 months ago
In 2021 another gate will open it's called 5G Gate.
Just stop. Really?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blcamp Avatar
77 months ago
Qualcomm is about to lose the war. Couldn't have happened to "nicer" folks.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)