Apple extends modem chip licensing agreement with Qualcomm through March 2027

Apple has extended its modem chip licensing agreement with Qualcomm through March 2027, Qualcomm said today during its first earnings call of 2024 — as noted by MacRumors.

It was anticipated that Apple would use its own modem chip in iPhones starting in 2025. However, a November 2023 Wall Street Journal article (you’ll have to subscribe to read it) that said that Apple’s work on a 5G modem is “three years behind Qualcomm’s best chip.”

From the article: Apple had planned to have its modem chip ready to use in the new iPhone models. But tests late last year found the chip was too slow and prone to overheating. Its circuit board was so big it would take up half an iPhone, making it unusable.

Teams were siloed in separate groups across the U.S. and abroad without a global leader. Some managers discouraged the airing of bad news about delays or setbacks from engineers, leading to unrealistic goals and blown deadlines.

Apple’s own modem has been rumored for some time. the tech giant acquired Intel’s smartphone modem business in July 2019 and added 2,200 Intel engineers to its chipset operations globally.