Apple tipped to be working on own modem for iPhones

The project to develop a 4G/5G modem in Apple is back to the light. The iPhone could benefit from it in a few years, and perhaps even Apple laptops.

While some iPhone models have just been banned from Chinese territory, in the war between Qualcomm and Apple, the Cupertino firm would continue its momentum and prepare a modem designed in house.

Apple is hiring engineers specialized in cellular modem architectures, they would join one of its teams in San Diego.

A new report relying on a source close to the project stated that the effort is real and ongoing. However, as for any chip development, it does not mean that the company will soon be able to break with Intel, after doing it with Qualcomm. Mobile modem design could take up to three years to materialize in an iPhone. It could therefore be for 2020 at the earliest.

This is not the first time that this rumor goes back, and it is all quite logical compared to the more global strategy of the company which now develops its processors and graphics chips for its iPhone and iPad.

So it would be new step that seems to be confirmed and could open the door to the introduction of this home modem in other Apple products like the MacBook laptops.

The question now is whether the arrival of Apple modems in Mac will be before or after the possible switch of Intel processors to ARM chips developed internally.