Apple's Efforts to Develop 5G Modem Still Uncertain

Analyst Ming Quo claimed that Apple's efforts to develop its own 5G modem had bombed since then, but recent rumors suggest that the company may still debut its G chip on two iPhone models in 2025. According to CLA, the same analyst who previously made this claim, Apple will launch its chip with the iPhone SE4 in the spring of 2025, followed by the iPhone 17 Slim later in the year.

The analyst's statement sparked curiosity among tech enthusiasts, as it is unclear why the company would choose to debut the chip on two less important iPhones first. One possible explanation is that Apple wants to test its new technology without risking a major failure, which could damage the company's reputation and lead to significant financial losses. By starting with lower-end models, Apple can mitigate potential risks and refine its 5G modem technology before moving on to more high-profile devices.

Currently, Apple sources its 5G chips from Qualcomm, and the difference it makes in everyday use is relatively minimal. In reality, 5G speeds are not always faster than 4G, and the actual performance can vary depending on factors such as network congestion and location. However, Apple's efforts to develop its own 5G modem have been met with skepticism by some experts, who claim that it may be difficult for the company to create a chip that is both efficient and reliable.

One of the biggest challenges facing Apple's 5G modem development is battery efficiency. Currently, 5G modems are notorious for being power-hungry, which can significantly drain battery life. To address this issue, Apple has implemented a setting in its iPhone settings that forces the device to switch between 4G and 5G networks automatically, in an effort to conserve battery life.

Despite these challenges, some analysts believe that Apple's new 5G modem technology may offer significant advantages over Qualcomm's current offerings. One possible benefit is improved performance, which could result from a more efficient design or advanced signal processing algorithms. However, the exact nature of these benefits remains unclear, and it will likely be several months before we see any concrete evidence.

In recent news, Apple extended its modem licensing deal with Qualcomm until March 2027, indicating that the company may still rely on Qualcomm's technology in the near future. While this does not necessarily mean that Apple has abandoned its efforts to develop its own 5G modem, it does suggest that the company is willing to wait and see how its technology develops before making a final decision.

The future of Apple's 5G modem development remains uncertain, with some experts predicting that the company may hit a roadblock in the coming months. However, others believe that the benefits of adopting new technology will be worth the risks. One thing is certain: as we move closer to the release of Apple's G chip, we can expect more rumors and speculation about its performance, features, and pricing.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enApple's in-house 5G modem could finally debut on next year's iPhones that's the cult of Mac headline reports indicate Apple has spent billions of dollars developing its in-house 5G modem but has little to show for it this is kind of a sad story in 2019 the company acquired Intel's 5G modem business for $1 billion to get a head start on its development efforts but that move reportedly backfired with with apple Engineers facing issues with Intel's code trying to fix the problems as assumingly causing other features to break that's great this is like the longest story in the world in June 2022 our favorite uh analyst Ming quo claimed that Apple's efforts to develop the 5G modem had bombed since then though the rumor mill has indicated Apple's in-house chip could deut on devices in 2025 and then in a post on X published I guess this late last week the analyst CLA same guy Ming quo claims that Apple will debut its G chip on two iPhone models in 2025 chip will launch with the iPhone se4 in the spring of 2025 followed the iPhone 17 slim later in the year that's an odd detail to to like the se4 and the iPhone 17 slim well what about the what about the other iPhones any maybe maybe that's why it's going to be so much more expensive despite having fewer features I bet they're probably just like dipping their toes into it you know on the on the less important iPhones to their bottom line you know if if something goes wrong with the iPhone se4 it's like well no major loss there you know that that's a phone that they sell over a period of like five years why why did you buy the cheap phone you should have bought a good one and if you complain about the expensive one then what well we can give you an iPhone 17 Pro Max instead uh let's see So currently Apple sources its 5G chips from Qualcomm and you know what a difference the 5G makes right in your everyday it's just at least as fast as as 4G usually yeah that's that's why my hair is blown back because when I got when I got my iPhone 12 I was so just blown away by the by the F power of 5G that my life was forever changed yeah that was like that was that Year's titanium it was just such a marketing point and such a nothing when it actually arrived in your hands let's see in all actuality I don't I don't even think my phone plan supports 5G I think I'm still on a 4G plan I've I mean a couple of times I've seen better than average speeds a couple and I've had these things for years now uh let's see mostly what I do is the it hops between bands and I don't get any that's what I love like oh it's it'd be so great if it was 5G but then it just like eventually fails over to 4G and it's like nothing that's great let's see uh anyway earlier this year Apple extended its modem licensing deal with uh Qualcomm Qualcomm until March 2027 do we want to hear the rest of this given the turbulent development journey of Apple's 5G modem it's entirely possible that the company will hit a last minute roadblock again forcing it to fall back on qualcomm's modem again next year even if it debuts chip performance might not be as good as that from Qualcomm I don't know where that comes from I I think that's pure speculation on our part I I would hope that if Apple switches to its own modem that it's actually better and offers some kind of some kind of Advantage I mean surely it would and like you're saying oh this the next the next uh Apple silicone silicon thing right well so I I haven't actually heard much about how a 5G modem would be better or worse I mean maybe less of that switching but I don't know yeah I mean from what I've read they are just intensely complicated pieces of silicon to develop but you know if if a better one would be more battery efficient like currently currently the a big problem with 5G modems is that they are incredibly battery inefficient and they're a big Power drain uh like apple has a setting and if you go into settings where it can uh you can choose it to forcibly stick with 5G if a 5G connection is available but it warns you this is going to have worse battery life huh yeah maybe that's it maybe that's a great point maybe it'll be like oh uh and that makes sense with a SL with a slim iPhone right like oh uh because it has a less battery uh but it had we paired it with this super efficient Apple 5G modem now it lasts at least as long as the one with the battery that's you know a third bigger it's you know all these all these kind you they're kind of these rumors are kind of dovetailing I mean I I will say about the iPhone slim because I heard you and airone talking about this last week I think maybe like the the one part that we don't know about the iPhone slim yet is what it looks like and you know sure it might not have the best camera it might not have the best display it might use the regular chip instead of the pro chip but you know what maybe it just looks really damn cool and we don't know yet it'll be bronzeApple's in-house 5G modem could finally debut on next year's iPhones that's the cult of Mac headline reports indicate Apple has spent billions of dollars developing its in-house 5G modem but has little to show for it this is kind of a sad story in 2019 the company acquired Intel's 5G modem business for $1 billion to get a head start on its development efforts but that move reportedly backfired with with apple Engineers facing issues with Intel's code trying to fix the problems as assumingly causing other features to break that's great this is like the longest story in the world in June 2022 our favorite uh analyst Ming quo claimed that Apple's efforts to develop the 5G modem had bombed since then though the rumor mill has indicated Apple's in-house chip could deut on devices in 2025 and then in a post on X published I guess this late last week the analyst CLA same guy Ming quo claims that Apple will debut its G chip on two iPhone models in 2025 chip will launch with the iPhone se4 in the spring of 2025 followed the iPhone 17 slim later in the year that's an odd detail to to like the se4 and the iPhone 17 slim well what about the what about the other iPhones any maybe maybe that's why it's going to be so much more expensive despite having fewer features I bet they're probably just like dipping their toes into it you know on the on the less important iPhones to their bottom line you know if if something goes wrong with the iPhone se4 it's like well no major loss there you know that that's a phone that they sell over a period of like five years why why did you buy the cheap phone you should have bought a good one and if you complain about the expensive one then what well we can give you an iPhone 17 Pro Max instead uh let's see So currently Apple sources its 5G chips from Qualcomm and you know what a difference the 5G makes right in your everyday it's just at least as fast as as 4G usually yeah that's that's why my hair is blown back because when I got when I got my iPhone 12 I was so just blown away by the by the F power of 5G that my life was forever changed yeah that was like that was that Year's titanium it was just such a marketing point and such a nothing when it actually arrived in your hands let's see in all actuality I don't I don't even think my phone plan supports 5G I think I'm still on a 4G plan I've I mean a couple of times I've seen better than average speeds a couple and I've had these things for years now uh let's see mostly what I do is the it hops between bands and I don't get any that's what I love like oh it's it'd be so great if it was 5G but then it just like eventually fails over to 4G and it's like nothing that's great let's see uh anyway earlier this year Apple extended its modem licensing deal with uh Qualcomm Qualcomm until March 2027 do we want to hear the rest of this given the turbulent development journey of Apple's 5G modem it's entirely possible that the company will hit a last minute roadblock again forcing it to fall back on qualcomm's modem again next year even if it debuts chip performance might not be as good as that from Qualcomm I don't know where that comes from I I think that's pure speculation on our part I I would hope that if Apple switches to its own modem that it's actually better and offers some kind of some kind of Advantage I mean surely it would and like you're saying oh this the next the next uh Apple silicone silicon thing right well so I I haven't actually heard much about how a 5G modem would be better or worse I mean maybe less of that switching but I don't know yeah I mean from what I've read they are just intensely complicated pieces of silicon to develop but you know if if a better one would be more battery efficient like currently currently the a big problem with 5G modems is that they are incredibly battery inefficient and they're a big Power drain uh like apple has a setting and if you go into settings where it can uh you can choose it to forcibly stick with 5G if a 5G connection is available but it warns you this is going to have worse battery life huh yeah maybe that's it maybe that's a great point maybe it'll be like oh uh and that makes sense with a SL with a slim iPhone right like oh uh because it has a less battery uh but it had we paired it with this super efficient Apple 5G modem now it lasts at least as long as the one with the battery that's you know a third bigger it's you know all these all these kind you they're kind of these rumors are kind of dovetailing I mean I I will say about the iPhone slim because I heard you and airone talking about this last week I think maybe like the the one part that we don't know about the iPhone slim yet is what it looks like and you know sure it might not have the best camera it might not have the best display it might use the regular chip instead of the pro chip but you know what maybe it just looks really damn cool and we don't know yet it'll be bronze\n"