Qualcomm

In the last few years, Apple has spent billions of dollars attempting to develop its own modem chip to replace the Qualcomm modem chips that it uses in iPhones, but a new paywalled Wall Street Journal report suggests Apple's approach to the project has been dogged by unrealistic goals, a poor understanding of the challenges involved, and completely unusable prototypes. Apple's plan to design ...

Apple has extended its agreement to obtain modems from Qualcomm for three more years, in what appears to be a sign that work on the company's own custom 5G modem is taking longer than previously expected, Bloomberg reports. Apple is Qualcomm's biggest client, accounting for almost a quarter of the supplier's revenue. In a statement, Qualcomm said that the deal with Apple covers "smartphone...

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...

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...

Qualcomm today announced plans to bring satellite-based connectivity to next-generation Android smartphones, giving smartphone manufacturers like Samsung and Google a way to compete with the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature that Apple rolled out alongside the iPhone 14 models. Snapdragon Satellite is a two-way satellite-based messaging solution provided through satellite company Iridium....

Apple could be one of the only major device makers in 2023 to adopt the newer and more advanced 3nm process technology, as Qualcomm and MediaTek are unclear on whether the newer process is worth it. According to a report by DigiTimes, Qualcomm and MediaTek, two of the largest chip makers, remain unsure on whether they want to follow in Apple's footsteps and start producing ‌3nm‌ chips in...

The iPhone 15 series will continue to feature Qualcomm 5G modems, according to a report today by DigiTimes, as development at Apple on a custom-made chip continues. Apple is currently developing an in-house 5G modem that aims to replace Qualcomm's Snapdragon 5G chips within the coming years. The report today says that TSMC will be the main supplier of the Qualcomm 5G chip for use in the ‌iPho...

Earlier this week, Qualcomm announced its latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile chip and platform, promising to "revolutionize flagship smartphones" with "groundbreaking" experiences. The new chip is expected to launch in flagship Android smartphones later this year, but benchmarks suggest it cannot compete with Apple's A16 Bionic chip, which powers iPhone 14 Pro models. While the latest chip...

Apple will continue to source modem chips from Qualcomm for the 2023 iPhone 15 lineup, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Qualcomm said it is set to provide the "vast majority" of modem chips for Apple's devices, despite earlier expectations that it would provide just a fraction of modem chips. Qualcomm in November 2021 said that it expected to supply 20 percent of Apple's modem chips in 2023, ...

Apple is rumored to be developing its own 5G chip for future iPhones, but Qualcomm is predicted to remain the supplier of modems for all iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, suggesting that Apple's chip will not debut until at least 2025. In a research note on Friday, Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu said he expects iPhone models released in 2024 to use Qualcomm's...

Apple is not among the founding members of a new "metaverse" standards body that includes Meta, Microsoft, Sony, Epic Games, Nvidia, Adobe, and others (via Reuters). Announced in a press release, "the Metaverse Standards Forum brings together companies and standards organizations to foster alignment on requirements and priorities for metaverse interoperability standards, and accelerate their ...

Qualcomm has successfully appealed a 997 million euro ($1.05 billion) fine from EU antitrust regulators for paying Apple to use its LTE chips in iOS devices (via Reuters). The fine was imposed by regulators in 2018 after a European Commission investigation concluded that payments to Apple from 2011 to 2016 were made with the sole aim of blocking Qualcomm's LTE chipset market rivals, such as...

Qualcomm's answer to Apple silicon will be available in devices by late 2023, the company's CEO said earlier this week (via Tom's Hardware). In November last year, Qualcomm announced plans to build next-generation Arm-based System on Chips (SoCs), designed to rival Apple's M-series chips, for the PC market. The chips are "designed to set the performance benchmark for Windows PCs" and are...

Qualcomm has unveiled its new 5G Snapdragon X70 modem, which is likely to be the last Qualcomm modem to be used by Apple in its iPhones before it switches to in-house custom-designed chips. Qualcomm says its latest 5G modem for smartphones includes "the world's first 5G AI processor integrated in a 5G Modem-RF System," which is supposed to increase the average download and uplink speeds on...

Apple was granted 2,541 patents in the United States last year, surpassed by only six other companies, IFI Claims reports. In its rankings of the top 50 U.S. patent assignees in 2021 (via Patently Apple), IFI Claims Patent Services shows that Apple was granted 250 fewer patents in 2021 compared to the previous year, a nine percent decrease. Even so, Apple moved one place up the rankings in...

Nvidia is no longer planning to acquire chip maker Arm after failing to win approval for the venture, reports Bloomberg. Nvidia will "quietly" abandon the purchase because it has made no progress in gaining support from regulators and is facing an FTC lawsuit blocking the deal. Nvidia in September 2020 announced plans to purchase Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion, but it was clear from the...

Microsoft has declined to make a version of Windows 11 available for Apple's M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max Macs that are built on an Arm architecture, and now we may know the reason - a secret exclusivity deal with Qualcomm. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. According to XDA-Developers, Arm-based Windows has only been made available on devices with Qualcomm SoC's because of ...

Qualcomm is preparing for the launch of Apple's own modem chips, which will cut into Qualcomm's modem business starting in 2023. At today's Investor Day event, Qualcomm CFO Akash Palkhiwala said that Qualcomm expects to supply just 20 percent of Apple's modem chips in 2023. If that's an accurate estimate, it means that 2022 will be the last year that Qualcomm enjoys a modem monopoly in iPhone...

Qualcomm today announced plans for next-generation Arm-based System on Chips (SoC) designed to rival Apple's M-series chips in the PC space (via The Verge). At Qualcomm's 2021 investor day event, chief technology officer Dr. James Thompson announced the plans for the new generation of chips. The chips are "designed to set the performance benchmark for Windows PCs" and are being developed by...

Intel today announced that it is teaming up with Qualcomm to manufacture some of Qualcomm's future chips. The chips will be manufactured using Intel's 20A process, which is expected to ramp in 2024. There is no word on which chips Intel will make for Qualcomm, but Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips are used in most Android smartphones. Though the 20A design is expected to be available starting in...