Apple reportedly plans to deploy its own 5G modems in iPhones by 2022. This “very aggressive” timeline will require Apple to carry out development, testing and certification.
Until then, Apple will use 5G modems developed by Qualcomm. After years of legal battling, the two companies put aside their differences earlier this year. Apple will likely ship its first 5G iPhone next year.
The end of the Apple’s war with Qualcomm didn’t come soon enough for this chip maker to get its 4G modems into the 2019 iPhone models. All three of Apple’s new handsets use a modem designed before Intel got out of this business.
Which possibly means this phone isn’t as fast as it could be.
An odd-ball scheme to let iPhone users talk to each other directly, device-to-device has reportedly been shelved.
This walkie-talkie feature would have required special hardware, and been used when cellular-networks aren‘t available.
Intel CEO Bob Swan has shed a bit more light on the deal in which Apple spent $1 billion buying Intel’s modem business.
Speaking with CNBC, Swan said the company decided to sell its 5G mobile modem business because selling modems to Apple only would not have provided big enough returns. Intel was due to produce Apple’s 5G modems before Apple patched things up with Qualcomm.
The $1 billion Apple spent on Intel’s modem business is the second-largest acquisition in the company’s 42-year history.
Still, while a huge amount of money by most normal standards, rival tech giants regularly dwarf Apple’s big spend on Intel. For a variety of reasons, Apple just doesn’t roll that way.
Apple wants to start shipping its own 5G modems as soon as 2021, according to a new report.
The news comes after Apple confirmed it is splashing $1 billion to acquire the majority of Intel’s modem chip business. But we won’t see the back of Qualcomm for some time.
Apple will pay $1 billion to acquire Intel’s smartphone modem business in a deal that was announced by the two companies this afternoon..
Apple will absorb patents, equipment and about 2,200 Intel employees if the deal meets regulatory approval. The two companies hope to close the deal by the end of the year.
Intel CEO Bob Swan says his company decided to bail out off the phone modem business because these products had too few customers to make much money.
Apple is the primary buyer of Intel modems, and the iPhone maker is now reportedly going to acquire Intel’s related patents as it prepares to make its own 5G modems.
Apple could soon become the new owner of Intel’s giant trove of modem-related patents according to a new report on the two sides’ negotiation.
Intel decided to get out of the 5G modem game earlier this year after Apple struck a deal to use Qualcomm’s modems for the next couple of years. It appears that Intel’s loss could be a big win for Apple’s own efforts to become less dependent on third-parties for iPhone chips.
Intel continues to struggle to provide enough processors to meet demand from PC makers, and one of the victims was Apple. This is likely the cause for a slight drop in Mac shipments during the second quarter of this year.
