In a recent 2023 Mobile World Congress interview, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said Apple’s 5G chip could roll out next year.
Rumors of an Apple 5G modem have swirled around the internet for a while.
In Feb 2022, the Cupertino-based tech giant was reportedly in talks with new vendors for its first-ever custom 5G modems. Indeed, the report claimed that Apple could use the new 5G chip on the 2023 iPhones.
A recent DigiTimes report in December 2021 revealed that the Qualcomm 5G Modem would power the iPhone 15 lineup. However, the publication claimed Apple was still working on an in-house replacement.
Well, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon has inadvertently confirmed the report. In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal’s Joanna Stern, Amon said Apple’s 5G modem could be ready in the coming year.
“We expect that Apple will do their own modem in 2024, but if they need ours they know where to find us,” says Amon’s comment, as shared by tech analyst Carolina Milanesi.
So which iPhone will be the first to get the custom 5G modem?
When to Expect From Apple’s 5G Chip Release
Based on Amon’s discussion with WSJ, Apple could release its 5G chip on at least one iPhone 16 Model.
That aligns with a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman that Apple could launch the chip in one new product — a high-end iPhone. However, the tech giant would extend the hardware to other devices and entirely phase out Qualcomm’s modems in roughly three years.
Alternately, the in-house 5G modem could first appear on lower-volume devices such as iPad mini or iPad Air before making its way to the iPhones.
Whatever the case, the forthcoming iPhone 15 models will reportedly come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon x70 modem. Also, the chip company recently announced a new 5G modem — the Snapdragon X75 — that future iPhones can use during the transition phase.
