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Compiled by Chen Junda

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According to a well-knownappleReporter Mark Gurman reported yesterday that Apple is still continuing to develop modemschip, which is expected to be2025Released, plans to gradually replace the current Apple devicesQualcommmodem.

Apple has some of the best chip designers in the world and has invested billions of dollars and thousands of engineers in its own modem project, but they have little experience in this project.Repeatedly frustrated,The modem was released becausePerformance and overheating issuesBeing constantly postponed.

Apple was once criticized by customers for signal problems, and this problem was alleviated after they used Qualcomm's modems. However, Apple is no longer willing to pay Qualcomm's high modem fees-the Wall Street Journal saidThe cost could be as high as $7.2 billion.

The plan to develop its own modem isReduce costs and increase profit marginsIn addition,Improve reliability and chip life, save space inside the phone, and provide more design options.Apple insiders admit that users are unlikely to care whether to use Apple's self-developed modem. This project may have greater significance for Apple, which is under pressure in product sales.

1. Self-developed modem will be unveiled in 2025, and the head of the hardware technology department admitted that it is "extremely difficult"

The development department behind Apple's self-developed chips isApple Hardware Technology DivisionThey designed a number of groundbreaking processors for Apple devices and helped Apple eliminate the entire Mac product line.IntelChip, also invented features such as Touch ID and Face ID.

This team has a group of world-class chip designers who help Apple's products stand out in terms of speed and battery efficiency. Starting with the development of the Apple A4 chip,The team gradually integrated Apple's self-developed technology into every major Apple device。

Apple's investment in custom chips has always been to make its devices run better and achieve better collaboration between devices. Therefore, Johny Srouji, head of Apple's hardware technology department, once said in an interview with CNBC: "In areas where Apple cannot achieve performance improvements through self-development,We are happy to use external components” He believes this allows the team to focus on what’s really important.

However, Apple's decision to develop its own modem seems to go against this strategy.AIEngine andsensorUnlike other fields, Apple currently usesQualcomm modems are already state-of-the-art, and has withstood the test of mobile phones all over the worldOperatorsIt has been battle-tested and is therefore very reliable. For now, it is unlikely that any upgrades to the component will result in a better experience for users. Srouji also admitted in the same CNBC interview,Developing a modem is "extremely difficult."

As a key component of the iPhone and Apple Watch, the modem is an essential component for achieving efficient and stable cellular network connections. Before Apple began using Qualcomm modems in 2011, Apple mainly relied on chips from Infineon Technologies. At that time, people often complained aboutPoor data network connection and dropped callsFrom 2016 until early 2020, Apple used Intel modems, but they also drew complaints.

Apple's modem project has suffered numerous setbacks over the past few years.Due to performance and overheating issues, Apple was forced to delay the debut of its own modem until next year at the earliest.The rollout will be gradual, starting with lower-volume models and taking several years to complete. Apple extends supplier agreement with Qualcomm toMarch 2027, which also shows that this transition may take some time.

2. Further cost reduction and improved reliability and battery life

Apple insiders admit thatCustomers don’t careIs the modem in the phone developed by Apple or a third-party product? Although Apple can use its own modem as a marketing point,But the user experience will not change significantly.

Apple has invested billions of dollars and thousands of engineers in this project, and also acquired Intel's smartphone modem division in 2019. But in the short term, the project will not reap a lot of results. Apple's move is to "lay the long line and catch the big fish."The ultimate goal of this project may be to cut costs.

Apple has argued for years that it pays Qualcomm too much for modems. Qualcomm in the iPhone5GModem modules are priced at around $100. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has paid Qualcomm a total of $7.2 billion for modems. Self-development may help them save this part of the cost.

However, Qualcomm believes thatApple can't develop a modem without using Qualcomm patents, still needs to pay part of the patent fees to Qualcomm.

In the future, Apple plans to integrate the modem into a wireless chip that handles both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals. This chip will become a single connection component, which may improve reliability and chip lifespan.

There is also the possibility that Apple could one day consolidate all of these components onto the iPhone's SoC. This would further cut costs and save space inside the iPhone, allowing for more design options. In addition, if Apple ultimately saves money by ditching Qualcomm,They will likely redirect that spending toward new features and components.

Conclusion: Will Apple’s self-developed modem become a replica of the “antenna gate” incident?

Apple's modem development could be similar to itsNeural NetworksThe neural network engine is an important part of Apple's M series chips. However, when the component was launched in 2017, it did not show much advantage. At present, Apple's M series chips with neural network engines have become Apple'sAI PCThe best-case scenario for Apple is that everything goes smoothly and most customers don’t even realize the modem change.

The true value of the project will not be tested until many years later. Modems need to be tested globally in many different environments, and migrating more than 1 billion users to self-developed chips would be a big risk for Apple. If Apple's self-developed modem has problems, it could become the biggest scandal since Apple's "antenna gate."

Source: Bloomberg