Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Apple's internal hardware team is working on modems now, likely to replace Intel
Apple will design its own modems in-house, according to sources that spoke with Reuters. In doing so, the company may hope to leave behind Intel modems in its mobile devices, which Apple has used since a recent falling out with Qualcomm.
Qualcomm forces Apple to stop selling iPhone 7 and 8 in Germany According to the sources, the team working on modem design now reports to Johny Srouji, Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies. Srouji joined Apple back in 2004 and led development of Apple's first in-house system-on-a-chip, the A4. He has overseen Apple silicon ever since, including the recent A12 and A12X in the new iPhone and iPad Pro models.
Before this move, Apple's modem work ultimately fell under Dan Riccio, who ran engineering for iPhones, iPads, and Macs. As Reuters noted, that division was heavily focused on managing the supply chain and working with externally made components. The fact that the team is moving into the group focused on developing in-house components is a strong signal that Apple will not be looking outside its own walls for modems in the future.
In recent years, Apple has been locked in a costly and complex series of legal battles with Qualcomm, the industry's foremost maker of mobile wireless chips. While Apple previously used Qualcomm's chips in its phones, the legal struggles led the tech giant to turn instead to Intel in recent iPhones.
Late last year, Apple announced that it would greatly expand hiring in San Diego, where Qualcomm is based. All of the areas where Apple announced plans to build out new campuses or launch major hiring initiatives appeared to be chosen because of their large pools of high-skilled workers in certain fields that Apple could potentially poach from competitors like Qualcomm.
Related Stories
Thanks, Apple: Intel will auction off smartphone modem patents, exit industry
Back in April, Apple announced that it would cease all litigation against chip manufacturer Qualcomm and enter a new partnership with the company that will see Qualcomm modems installed in new crops of iPhones.
On that same day, Intel announced it was exiting the smartphone modem business entirely. Now, according to IAM, Intel is going one step further and auctioning off many of its smartphone modem assets.
This information appears to suggest that without Apple as a partner, Intel has no need for its patents surrounding smartphone modems at all.
According to IAM, the Intel auction will see some 8,500 patents up for sale to the highest bidder.
Also at Tom's Hardware and Wccftech.
Previously: Apple Could Switch From Qualcomm to Intel and MediaTek for Modems
Intel Speeds Up Rollout of 5G Modems
A Billion-Dollar Question: What Was Really Behind Qualcomm's Surprise Ten-Digit Gift to Apple?
Apple's Internal Hardware Team is Working on Modems Now
Intel and Qualcomm Announce 5G Modem Modules for M.2 Slots
Intel Quits 5G Modem Business Hours after Apple Settles with Qualcomm
Qualcomm Will Pocket Almost $5 Billion from Apple Settlement this Quarter
How Qualcomm Shook Down the Cell Phone Industry for Almost 20 Years
(Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Monday February 11 2019, @12:57PM (4 children)
I promised to get Apple to build a big plant in the United States or many big plants in the United States. Promise kept! Chrysler is coming back to the USA, from Mexico and many others will follow. Tax cut money to employees is pouring into our economy with many more companies announcing. American business is hot again. We have the hottest economy anywhere in the World. A 10!!
(Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Monday February 11 2019, @03:55PM (3 children)
Newsflash: Jobs is NOT coming back. He came back to Apple once. But no more.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @10:42PM (2 children)
Has anyone checked His grave in Palo Alto lately?
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday February 11 2019, @11:19PM
Yeah, we hung around for 3 days and nights, but nothing happened.
I think we were lied to.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday February 12 2019, @12:00AM
Yeah. There's this oddly soft-edged, rounded-rectangle white coffin with an engraved Apple logo and the caption "iDied" on it. I tried to raise him with a medium's help, and it looked like it was going to work at first, but all we got was this ghostly, translucent spinning ball of rainbow colors...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 11 2019, @01:14PM (4 children)
not a apple fan (or (l)user) but i hope they will blaze the way for a modem that can talk to another modem without having to go thru a
tower with AP-like (access point) equipment from other manufacturers:
"oh please, please, please ^insert cell tower equipment manufacturer^ tell us the secrit sauce to get the most when trying to connect to your equipment" lol
(Score: 2) by danaris on Monday February 11 2019, @01:55PM (1 child)
Are you suggesting that Apple build some sort of iPhone-to-iPhone mesh network that completely bypasses the cellular networks? I can see there being certain useful applications of that (at least in big cities where at any given time, you've got at least a decent possibility of being within range of another iPhone), but there's no way that can replace cellular internet access.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ledow on Monday February 11 2019, @03:40PM
Nor would they be able to without using cellular frequencies which would need a licence to prove it can interoperate with those exact companies you want to bypass. Modems transmit as well as receive, remember.
If they used different frequencies, then they might as well use 802.11.
They'll quickly find that they have to abide by certifications and specifications and all they'll benefit is a modem chip that others don't have a driver for. I don't think anyone is even seriously *trying* to run homebrew on an Apple device. They won't magically screw 100% more bandwidth from it, nor beat cellular-modem manufacturers at their core business for things like power usage, etc.
All this will mean is that Apple will save a few pence of profit on each modem chip that would otherwise go to middlemen, for MASSIVE upheaval, and end up with the burden of maintaining those drivers / devices / hardware production methods themselves for decades to come. Just certifying the chip in Europe, Asia, the US, etc. is probably a several-year-long process.
Anything that utilises the cellular network will need co-operation from the cellular companies, when they in-fight each other over technologies, let alone some upstart device manufacturer trying to dictate a protocol that doesn't work elsewhere or on other devices.
Apple's modem is going to cause them more problems than it will ever solve - from patents and licensing, to not being able to shift the blame and extended support for old devices when they run into problems.
Apple just want to control everything themselves. If they want to sell those devices, they are going to find out why it's a very expensive exercise to do so.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Monday February 11 2019, @03:03PM
Haven't the relevant technologies, like Bluetooth, NFC, and WiFi Direct, been around for a while?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday February 11 2019, @04:00PM
Modern micro controllers make lots of DIY things possible. What if you could create your own box that legally used some part of the spectrum such that two of your DIY "modems" could talk to each other. Your modem could offer Bluetooth or USB to the device. Then your smartphones, laptops, chromebooks, or God forbid even Apple or Microsoft devices could communicate point to point with each other.
Done cleverly, this could be done while your devices remain on the mobile network.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Alfred on Monday February 11 2019, @04:42PM (1 child)
(Score: 5, Interesting) by takyon on Monday February 11 2019, @05:22PM
This is just vertical integration and a smart move by Apple.
Buying parts from a competitor? [9to5mac.com] Stupid move.
Buying parts from a company [wikipedia.org] that sues you constantly? Bad move.
Buying parts from a company and running it into the ground [soylentnews.org]? Bold move.
Making your own parts? Money Moves.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]