It looks as though Apple will continue to rely on Qualcomm for another generation of iPhone 5G modems.
As Bloomberg reports, Qualcomm stated in its earnings report yesterday that the company expects to provide the "vast majority" of 5G modem chips for the 2023 iPhone models.
Such news confirms that Apple simply isn't ready to start using its own modem yet, despite years of development. Bloomberg believes Apple's prototype modems overheat and that the company is now targeting 2024 for a switch to its own modem silicon.
Apple's ambition to develop its own modem chip became public knowledge back in 2019 when it acquired Intel's 5G modem business. Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies, then confirmed in 2020 that development of the company's first internal cellular modem was underway. Meanwhile, Apple had settled lawsuits with Qualcomm, which included signing a six-year license agreement for Qualcomm to continue supplying chips.
Nearly three years on and Apple has yet to produce an iPhone modem, that's despite the Intel intellectual property, equipment, and 2,200 Intel employees who joined Apple back in 2019. Then again, Apple never releases a product until it's completely happy with the end result and it still has a few years left on that Qualcomm licensing deal to take advantage of.