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author: zhou yuan/wall street news

iphone se 4 is coming, and the release time is initially scheduled for spring 2025.

the biggest feature of this model is not the low price, but that apple’s self-developed 5g modem will be equipped on this model. this is the first model that apple has truly ditched qualcomm modem chips.

wall street insights exclusively learned from the supply chain that apple’s self-developed 5g modem will be completed in mid-july this year and will be used in iphone se 4 shortly thereafter.

apple's self-developed 5g modem should be promoted on a large scale after acquiring most of intel's smartphone modem business in 2019.

this time apple has determined the mass production time and model of its self-developed 5g modem, which shows that apple has truly taken a substantial step in reducing external dependence. it is also the latest major step in apple’s strategy of controlling long-term costs and promoting technology independence. results.

in fact, apple's original hardware technology has never been its strong point. although apple "finished" the independent design of a series and m series chips very early, it has been unable to conquer radio frequency chip design technology for a long time, which has also given china a chance to compete with huawei. high-end smartphones eat into opportunities and space in apple's empire.

for well-known reasons, huawei was unable to compete head-on with apple for about four years. however, apple "happened" to start promoting rfic design work on a large scale in 2019, and the timing was precise. although apple started this work early, it has been frustrated by repeated setbacks for a long time, so it has been unable to achieve its grand goal of relying on external supplies for 5g modems.

the design difficulty of rfic, in the words of johny srouji, head of apple's hardware technology department, "the development process of modems is "extremely difficult." this statement shows that modems play an extremely critical role in the mobile phone communication experience. this is mainly reflected in protecting users network connection stability and data transmission efficiency.

it can be seen that apple is not confident enough about whether its own 5g modem technology can pass the test, so it chose the relatively low-priced iphone se 4 for first-time verification. if the test goes well, the iphone 17 series launched in the third quarter of 2025 will also be equipped with this self-developed modem chip.

if this is true, then the "poor signal" problem of iphone series smartphones that plagues apple users will no longer exist, or the communication experience will at least be significantly improved.

currently, all iphones on the market usequalcommmodem. as of 2023, apple has paid a cumulative cost of approximately us$7.2 billion for this dependence. earlier this year, apple extended qualcomm’s 5g modem supply agreement until 2026. therefore, apple’s self-developed 5g modem to replace qualcomm chips is likely to be implemented step by step.

qualcomm has been apple's exclusive supplier of modem chips since 2011. as part of the deal, qualcomm will pay apple $1 billion in annual "incentives" that it must pay back if apple adds other suppliers. after cook took over as apple ceo, he said that apple’s cooperation with qualcomm forced apple to tie up with it.

apple’s “rebellion” against qualcomm began with the launch of the iphone 7 series on september 7, 2016. on this model, apple chose an intel modem. at the same time, apple launched a patent lawsuit against qualcomm in 2017.

however, because intel's modem performance is not as good as qualcomm's, apple's iphone 11 series, including the iphone 7 series, only supports 4g, and the communication experience has been widely criticized by users.

on april 17, 2019, apple made peace with qualcomm by paying $4.5 billion in compensation and signing a six-year modem chip supply agreement.

although due to inferior technology, apple failed to resist qualcomm's technological advantages and ended up "ceding territory and paying compensation", apple's technological efforts have never stopped.

on july 26, 2019, apple announced that it would acquire intel’s smartphone modem business. this is the second largest acquisition in apple's history.

under the agreement, apple will acquire approximately 2,200 intel employees, as well as related intellectual property, equipment and leases. this deal is worth us$1 billion, and apple will use this to continue to promote the technical development of self-developed 5g modem chips.

through this acquisition, apple obtained more than 17,000 wireless technology patents, covering areas ranging from cellular standard protocols to modem architecture and modem operation.

although tianfeng securities analyst ming-chi kuo made a prediction when apple acquired intel’s smartphone modem business that apple would equip the iphone 15 series of mobile phones launched in 2024 with self-developed 5g modem, but before the launch of the iphone 15 series, in september 2023, apple and qualcomm reached a new agreement: qualcomm will provide snapdragon 5g modem and radio frequency system for apple’s smartphones launched in 2024, 2025 and 2026. ming-chi kuo’s prediction failed.

on august 1 this year, wall street news learned from the supply chain that apple’s self-developed 5g modem has achieved mass production and will most likely be used in the iphone se 4 launched in the spring of 2025.

qualcomm’s exclusive supply of apple modems will begin the end of history.