We can assume which iPhone 17 models will get Apple’s cellular modem
*Image credit — Majin Bu
At an earnings call for Qualcomm recently something very informative was said by CFO Akash Palkhiwala that gives us an insight into the company’s future relations with Apple. Palkhiwala claimed that Qualcomm will have a lower share in the iPhone 17 launches that are going to happen later this year.
Relevant transcript from Qualcomm’s earnings call. | Image credit — Investing
Apple has been working on a cellular modem of its own for years but kept running into some sort of problem. This was mainly done to get away from Qualcomm’s licensing fees but may also help Apple improve hardware and software synergy in the future. Samsung uses its own Exynos modems on some of its phones and also provides these modems to Google’s Pixel lineup.
Apple debuted its C1 cellular modem in the iPhone 16e as a sort of test. It didn’t compromise its flagship offerings and would also get real-world data about how the chip performed. The modem has provided adequate and even comparable results in some aspects and has also helped improve battery life, possibly due to the aforementioned synergy.
I think we may see the entire iPhone 18 series shift over to Apple’s in-house cellular modems and that will be a major blow to Qualcomm.
Apple debuted its C1 cellular modem in the iPhone 16e as a sort of test. It didn’t compromise its flagship offerings and would also get real-world data about how the chip performed. The modem has provided adequate and even comparable results in some aspects and has also helped improve battery life, possibly due to the aforementioned synergy.
Apple has clearly deemed it successful enough that it will now introduce its modems to its flagship phones this year. The iPhone 17 Air is the company’s newest model and a replacement for the iPhone Plus. Apple may have decided to use an in-house modem on the Air to make up for the smaller battery due to the phone being much slimmer than its other counterparts.
I think we may see the entire iPhone 18 series shift over to Apple’s in-house cellular modems and that will be a major blow to Qualcomm.
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