It has been over 5 years since Apple bought Intel’s modem division and patents, and in all that point it hasn’t managed to ship a product. Now, in keeping with a brand new report from Bloomberg, the corporate is lastly able to deliver its first 5G modem to market.
Don’t anticipate Apple to topple the modem large Qualcomm, although—at the very least not for some time. Apple plans to roll out more and more extra succesful modems over the subsequent three years. Apple has suffered a variety of setbacks in getting its modem to market, however supposedly has “tons of” of check telephones now internationally, working with carriers to do QA testing, which suggests it’s more likely to lastly come to market this spring within the iPhone SE.
The primary modem is code-named Sinope, and helps solely sub-6 GHz community frequencies, not the sooner mmWave networks. It’s behind Qualcomm’s greatest in different methods, too: it helps solely four-carrier aggregation (Qualcomm’s modems assist 6 or extra) and tops out at 4 gigabits per second (Gbps) in lab assessments, properly behind one of the best Qualcomm modems in immediately’s iPhones. After all, real-world efficiency is way decrease, anyway.
Together with the iPhone SE this spring, that mannequin can be slated for the brand new iPhone 17 Air (as some are calling the brand new mid-range ultra-thin iPhone due for launch within the fall of 2025). It would have some benefits over utilizing Qualcomm’s modems—tighter integration with Apple’s processors ought to scale back energy use, and it’s stated to scan for mobile alerts extra effectively and higher assist connections to satellite tv for pc networks.
In 2026 with the iPhone 18 (and a few high-end iPads via 2027), we should always see the subsequent modem, code-named Ganymede. It’s stated to catch as much as the present Qualcomm modems with mmWave assist and higher service aggregation, and most speeds of 6Gbps. After all, Qualcomm may have higher modems available on the market by then, so Apple will nonetheless be behind in some methods.
The third modem, due for high-end iPhones and iPads beginning in 2027, is code-named Prometheus. The report claims that Apple believes it will probably beat Qualcomm with a mixture of higher element efficiency, AI options, and next-gen satellite tv for pc connectivity.
