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Apple is finally going to start producing the modem chips inside its iPhones in-house, after years of delays, Bloomberg reports.
The new modem chips are expected to be released in the spring of 2025, as part of Apple’s budget-conscious iPhone SE, the device's first update since 2022. Apple's new in-house modem chips are then expected to appear in a new mid-tier iPhone later in 2025, code named D23. The chip—code named Sinope—will then start rolling out as part of Apple’s lower-end iPads.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claims that Apple ultimately plans to start replacing Qualcomm-made modems entirely in 2026 and 2027.
All modern smartphones contain these small modem chips, which allow them to connect to the wireless networks provided and maintained by telecom firms.
Gurman predicts in 2026 Apple will release a second iteration of this chip, code named Ganymede, that will make its way into higher-end products such as the iPhone 18, followed by higher-end iPads by 2027.
Bloomberg’s sources say that Apple has been working on the project for over half a decade, spending “billions” on building research and development labs across the globe, and making many hires from Qualcomm. Apple even purchased Intel's 5G modem business in 2019 in a $1 billion deal that included its patents and engineering staff.
Developing the chips in-house hasn't been an easy or straightforward process, with Bloomberg’s sources saying Apple had suffered “setback after setback” during the ambitious project. Apple had planned to debut its modem chip in an update to the iPhone SE this year, according to an earlier report by Gurman, but the project eventually ended up being delayed.
Neither Apple nor Qualcomm have officially commented on the reports as of yet.
Unfortunately, the latest rumors may be less than ideal news for the most performance-savvy iPhone users. Bloomberg's Gurman says the Apple modems aren't "as advanced" as the latest modems from Qualcomm, making them a "downgrade" from the modem chip currently in the iPhone 16 Pro.
"In lab tests, the first Apple modem caps out at download speeds of about 4 gigabits per second, less than the top speeds offered by non-mmWave Qualcomm modems," he writes.
But in 2027, Apple plans to "top" Qualcomm with a third-generation in-house modem, code-named Prometheus, which will include "support for next-generation satellite networks."
Apple has already successfully pulled off huge splits from Qualcomm, a firm it has collaborated with closely for decades. In June 2020, CEO Tim Cook announced that the tech giant would be starting to manufacture its own silicon chips for the first time, which had previously been made by Qualcomm. Since June 2023, Apple’s entire Mac lineup has featured these in-house chips.