It's been more than five years since Apple bought Intel's modem division and patents, and in all that time the company has failed to deliver a product. Now, according to a new report from Bloomberg, the company is finally ready to bring its first 5G modem to market.
Don't expect Apple to topple modem giant Qualcomm, at least not for a while. Apple plans to roll out increasingly efficient modems over the next three years. Apple has suffered numerous setbacks to bring its modem to market, but it is believed to have “hundreds” of test phones around the world, working with carriers to carry out quality assurance tests, meaning it is likely Finally will hit the market this spring in the iPhone SE.
The first modem is codenamed Sinope and only supports network frequencies below 6 GHz, not the faster mmWave networks. It's behind Qualcomm's best in other ways, too: it only supports four-carrier aggregation (Qualcomm modems support 6 or more) and hits 4 gigabits per second (Gbps) in lab tests, well behind the best Qualcomm modems in today's iPhones. Of course, real-world performance is much lower anyway.
Along with the iPhone SE this spring, this model is also slated for the new iPhone 17 Air (as some are calling the new ultra-thin mid-range iPhone scheduled for release in fall 2025). It will have some advantages over using Qualcomm's modems: tighter integration with Apple's processors should reduce power consumption, and it is said to scan for cellular signals more efficiently and better support connections to satellite networks.
In 2026 with the iPhone 18 (and some high-end iPads until 2027), we should see the next modem, named Ganymede. They say he catches up current Qualcomm modems with mmWave support and better carrier aggregation, and speeds up to 6 Gbps. Of course, Qualcomm will then have better modems on the market, so Apple will still be behind in some respects.
The third modem, planned for high-end iPhones and iPads from 2027, is codenamed Prometheus. The report claims that Apple believes it can beat Qualcomm by combining better component performance, AI features and next-generation satellite connectivity.
