Apple and Qualcomm separated at home until 2026. Apple has been working on its own 5G modem chip since 2018 and in 2019 it acquired the Intel division to speed up operations: this component is expected to arrive practically every year since 2021, but so far it has not has materialized and now the further extension of the supply agreement between Apple and Qualcomm until 2026 confirms the delay.
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It should be noted that Apple has never anticipated anything in this regard, nor the arrival date. Speculations about the arrival in 2021 were decidedly optimistic, but even the most credible predictions have gradually slipped over time. The new agreement signed with Qualcomm, reported by Bloomberg, aims to supply 5G modem chips until 2026, for each of the iPhone generations arriving in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
As already indicated in previous agreements, signed after the legal battle concluded in 2019, Qualcomm does not foresee a complete stop of supplies to Apple when the first Cupertino modem chip is finally available. So in 2026, the last year covered by the current contract, Qualcomm expects it will supply Apple with modem chips for only 20% of the iPhones shipped.
For the San Diego mobile chip giant, this is an important slice of its entire turnover: in fact, it is estimated that 5G modem chips for Apple alone constitute almost 25% of all Qualcomm revenues. For Apple, however, the internal design of a 5G modem chip aims to obtain similar advantages of adopting Apple Silicon chips by abandoning Intel.
In addition to reducing dependence on another strategic supplier, Cupertino aims to improve efficiency and reduce energy consumption, presumably also by integrating the modem chip inside the main chip in the future. That the plan to make a proprietary 5G modem chip would be long, expensive and difficult was clear from the beginning.
Perhaps even more than processor design, these components require testing and certification of operation for virtually every cellular network and operator on the planet, a difficult and time-consuming process even for the largest consumer electronics company in the world.
But even if the renewed contract with Qualcomm aims for the Apple chip in 2026, Cupertino could actually introduce it earlier. According to the forecasts of the usually reliable Ming Chi Kuo, the iPhone 17 generation will arrive in 2025.
