Apple is investing billions of dollars in developing its own cellular modems, but the project is not expected to bring any immediate improvements to users. BloombergMark Gurman reports.
In last week’s “Power On” newsletter, Gurman explained that unlike the transition to Apple Silicon, the company’s first custom modem won’t bring any noticeable benefits to users. An Apple insider apparently acknowledged that “customers don’t really care who makes the modem for their phone,” and that “it’s hard to see how big the benefits will be in the short term.”
Instead, Apple plans to “play the long game, hoping that its modems will evolve into more advanced components that will ultimately change the way iPhones look and work.”
In the future, Apple plans to incorporate the modem design into a new wireless chip that handles Wi-Fi and Bluetooth access, creating a single connectivity component that could improve reliability and battery life.
It’s also possible that Apple could integrate all of this into the device’s main system-on-chip (SoC) in the future, which could further reduce costs, save space inside the iPhone, and open up more design options.
Apple used Qualcomm-designed modems for more than a decade, before moving to design its own in 2018 after a legal battle over royalties and patents. It has faced performance and overheating issues since then, delaying the component’s debut until next year at the earliest. Its rollout is expected to be phased, starting in more niche devices first and then expanding across the lineup over the next few years.
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