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Apple is making a 5G iPhone with its own modem after a recent $1 billion investment of a majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business. It’s another way in which Apple will maintain end-to-end control over its devices. The official announcement has indicated that Apple-Intel deal will experience about 2,200 Intel employees to join Apple, along with the entire-important intellectual property, equipment, and leases. It is noteworthy that Apple will hold a combined 17,000 wireless technology patents.
The recent announcement has marked the beginning of an outstanding task ahead for Apple. There will almost certainly be a 5G iPhone in the interim. Apple does have a 6-year agreement with 5G modem supplier and chipmaker Qualcomm. So, Apple fans will get their first taste of 5G speeds on their 2020 iPhones. Apple will be able to detach itself off of the Qualcomm modem. It is in many previous-generation iPhones and promotes the development of its own 5G smartphone modem. The iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR all have 4G LTE with Intel modems. It’s not expected to change with the anticipated iPhone 11 series. Point to be noted that some iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X models have Qualcomm modem chips.
Apple and Qualcomm have agreed to stop suing each other in April 2019. Apple had to pay Qualcomm a hefty multi-million-dollar fine in the end. Apple has had a habit of bringing tech in-house. The company has designed ARM-based MacBook chips in 2021. A series of 5G iPhone rumors pointed its launch in 2020. This Apple-Intel deal won’t close until the 4th quarter of 2019. It would leave Apple less than a year to turnaround a 5G iPhone modem. It doesn’t offer Apple very much time to develop its own modem, never mind a 5G version that competes with the Qualcomm modem chip already inside the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G.
