Despite the billions of dollars and years of work invested in developing an in-house 5G chip, Apple would not be able to match the performance of its current supplier Qualcomm’s best modems (at all).
The iPhone 15 Pro during Apple’s presentation on September 12th // Source: Apple
Developing a competitive 5G modem chip from scratch or near-zero is no walk in the park. And Apple is discovering this a little more to its own expense every year. Information from the Wall Street Journal suggests that the Cupertino giant’s plans in this area would come to fruition in far from the best-case scenario… and this is despite the progress we reported on a few years ago.
In particular, we learn that despite Apple’s efforts and billions of investments in this area since purchasing part of Intel’s modem division in 2019, it will still not be able to develop a competitive 5G chip. Worse, the company would have misjudged its move and the cumulative technological delay would be anything but negligible.
5G made in Apple on iPhones… it’s more complicated than expected
As MacRumors indicates, Apple’s approach was characterized by unrealistic goals, a misunderstanding of the challenges to be overcome, and completely useless prototypes. Apple originally planned to develop a functional 5G chip (codename “Sinope”) in fall 2023. A goal for which the company has actively recruited from both Intel and Qualcomm in recent years.
“Many of the wireless technology experts involved in the project quickly realized that the set goal could not be achieved,” reports the WSJ. And in this case, the obstacles encountered would be “largely attributable to Apple,” explain former engineers and executives of the company addressed by the newspaper. The latter certainly mention “technical challenges”, but above all also “poor communication and divided opinion among managers about the need to try to develop 5G chips instead of buying them”. A consideration that almost sounds like denial.
The Apple logo // Source: Nathan Le Gohlisse for Frandroid
A sin of pride?
The Wall Street Journal reports in particular on a completely failed first prototype and a Kafkaesque internal organization.
Apple had predicted that its modem chip would be ready for use in new iPhone models. However, tests late last year found that the chip was too slow and prone to overheating. Its circuit board was so large that it would have taken up half of an iPhone, rendering it unusable.
“The teams were divided into separate groups in the United States and abroad, without a global leader. “Some executives discouraged engineers from communicating bad news about delays or setbacks, leading to unrealistic goals and missed deadlines,” the American business paper continues.
If you read between the lines, Apple’s project even seems like a sin of pride. Remember, the company is at the height of its microprocessor development fame with the “A” and “M” chips on its iPhone and Mac.
However, developing processors and developing 5G modems are two completely different things – one is much less laborious than the other. Modem development actually means designing chips that send and receive data from different types of wireless networks. And all while adhering to strict connectivity standards to serve mobile operators around the world, MacRumors rightly points out.
“Apple did not foresee the complexity of the project”
As we learn, the latest prototypes tested late last year were not at all up to expected levels. Internal sources told the Wall Street Journal that they are “essentially three years behind Qualcomm’s best modem chip.” We read that their use would also have forced the iPhone to operate at slower connection speeds than competing smartphones.
For comparison, Apple and Qualcomm recently agreed to extend their agreement for another three years. Enough to point out that Apple’s 5G chips will not be coming to market. According to Wall Street Journal sources, the group’s first modems could still be available on the iPhone by 2025 in the best case scenario. Unless Apple decides to stop the fees in the meantime.
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