It can easily be said that Apple has specialized in many areas of smartphone design. However, it seems that the company is having difficulty with 5G modems. Although it has been rumored for a long time that Apple is working on its own in-house modems, the company is currently relying on Qualcomm for its 5G modems and it does not look like its own products will be ready for a long time.
This multibillion-dollar project will not be available until at least late 2025 and possibly early 2026, Bloomberg reported, citing 9to5Mac as a source. A previous report suggested that Apple’s 5G modem would be released towards the end of 2025, but the new article claims that Apple was previously targeting spring 2025 (i.e. between late March and late June).
If production is delayed until 2026, we will face a much larger delay than the end-2025 claim previously heard. Such a delay means that the new modem will almost certainly not be included in any iPhone until the iPhone 18 in late 2026. Of course, it may be possible for more problems and delays to occur.
Apple has been working on this project since at least 2019, when it bought Intel’s modem business for $1 billion. However, reports indicate that the situation is more complicated and challenging than Apple expected, as the company cannot match the performance and efficiency of Qualcomm modems.
For now, this hardware is supplied by Qualcomm. Apple’s modem deal with Qualcomm has been extended until 2026, so in theory Apple has until 2026 to launch its own modem, but the deal could potentially be extended again if Apple’s 5G modem is still not ready by then.
Therefore, it is best not to expect to see an Apple-made 5G modem in iPhones anytime soon. However, this delay may have some positive aspects. First of all, Apple seems to want to at least match Qualcomm’s modem performance, but it’s not impossible that the final Apple modem will offer even better performance.
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