This leads a bit of legitimacy to the rumor of Apple's own 5G modem releasing with an iPhone SE refresh in early 2025. That would be a great way for Apple to "test the waters" and work out kinks in their own modem, both with manufacturing and actual end-use, before having to produce a 100 million of them for a high-end iPhone refresh in September 2025. Then in Sep 2026, those '25 iPhones go down in price, new iPhones take their place, and suddenly Apple has a nearly top-to-bottom lineup using their inhouse 5G modem.
Qualcomm's quote was listed elsewhere as implying it would be 20% after the 2026 iPhones launch. So that is when the iPhone would get Apple's modem, and the 2025 iPhones sold for $100 off would be using Qualcomm's.
I think you're right about iPhone SE getting it first to give Apple time to address any issues (which will be baseband software related...the hardware is the easy part) but it would be the 2026 SE. There won't be a 2025 SE, given that a new one is expected next spring and they aren't released yearly.
It's hard to believe that Apple would release their own modem as the low-end phone option! That's kinda saying "well, we tried, but we know it sucks".
More likely, I think, is that, if there's a need for a year or so of real-world testing, they'll use it in a product that so far hasn't had a modem; for example they could put one in every macbook (and kinda sorta argue, not completely ridiculously, that they are making macbooks more useful in a way that was less economically feasible at Qualcomm prices).
They can't put them in Macs or iPads for that testing, because people don't make calls with them. People still make phone calls, and that needs real world worldwide testing you can't get by having Apple employees dogfooding them for a few months.
Putting them in iPhone SE first isn't saying "we know it sucks" when everyone will know they are going into the iPhone 18 six months later. If they put it in iPhone SE next spring but waited until fall 2026 to put it regular iPhones then they'd be doing because "we know it sucks".
Why are people bothered about a mythical/rumoured midrange product supposedly to launch in more than a year and a half from now? Are we actually meant to care?
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
5 Comments
Back to Article
NextGen_Gamer - Monday, September 11, 2023 - link
This leads a bit of legitimacy to the rumor of Apple's own 5G modem releasing with an iPhone SE refresh in early 2025. That would be a great way for Apple to "test the waters" and work out kinks in their own modem, both with manufacturing and actual end-use, before having to produce a 100 million of them for a high-end iPhone refresh in September 2025. Then in Sep 2026, those '25 iPhones go down in price, new iPhones take their place, and suddenly Apple has a nearly top-to-bottom lineup using their inhouse 5G modem.Doug_S - Monday, September 11, 2023 - link
Qualcomm's quote was listed elsewhere as implying it would be 20% after the 2026 iPhones launch. So that is when the iPhone would get Apple's modem, and the 2025 iPhones sold for $100 off would be using Qualcomm's.I think you're right about iPhone SE getting it first to give Apple time to address any issues (which will be baseband software related...the hardware is the easy part) but it would be the 2026 SE. There won't be a 2025 SE, given that a new one is expected next spring and they aren't released yearly.
name99 - Monday, September 11, 2023 - link
It's hard to believe that Apple would release their own modem as the low-end phone option! That's kinda saying "well, we tried, but we know it sucks".More likely, I think, is that, if there's a need for a year or so of real-world testing, they'll use it in a product that so far hasn't had a modem; for example they could put one in every macbook (and kinda sorta argue, not completely ridiculously, that they are making macbooks more useful in a way that was less economically feasible at Qualcomm prices).
Doug_S - Monday, September 11, 2023 - link
They can't put them in Macs or iPads for that testing, because people don't make calls with them. People still make phone calls, and that needs real world worldwide testing you can't get by having Apple employees dogfooding them for a few months.Putting them in iPhone SE first isn't saying "we know it sucks" when everyone will know they are going into the iPhone 18 six months later. If they put it in iPhone SE next spring but waited until fall 2026 to put it regular iPhones then they'd be doing because "we know it sucks".
dontlistentome - Tuesday, September 12, 2023 - link
Why are people bothered about a mythical/rumoured midrange product supposedly to launch in more than a year and a half from now?Are we actually meant to care?