2018 iPhones drops Qualcomm to feature Intel modems exclusively!

For a long time, Apple and Qualcomm have been in a legal dispute, suing each other back and forth. If you want to catch up, here’s a quick recap. Starting January 2017, Apple sued Qualcomm for $1 billion over excessive royalties. In April 2017, Qualcomm got Apple to court for making its modems look inferior to Intel’s. Qualcomm sues Apple again for sharing their trade secrets with Intel in November 2017. Later, they even tried to ban Apple from producing and selling iPhones in China.

Finally, Qualcomm received the fine up to €1 billion for paying Apple to use its chips over Intel’s in January this year. Today, CNET finally shared that Qualcomm will no longer supply Apple with chips for its 2018 iPhones. George Davis, Qualcomm’s Financial Chief has shared that “We believe Apple intends to solely use our competitor’s modems rather than our modems in its next iPhone release,” during a call with industry analysts. However, this is not the end between Qualcomm and Apple.

There is still a chance that Qualcomm can become a supplier for Apple in the future. Meanwhile, Apple has partnered with both Intel and Qualcomm modems in different variants of various iPhone models. With Qualcomm dropping out of the game, Intel is the last one standing. Moreover, they can offer many benefits to Apple. Firstly, Intel has released a powerful modem XMM 7560. This processor can supports both GSM and CDMA; while the previous models only supported GSM connections. As a result, it can play a significant role for Apple iPhones global launch.

Will Intel be able to replace Qualcomm completely?

We wonder if Intel will be able to keep up with the iPhone’s production demand for their 2018 series. However, we might need to wait a bit longer to see how the situation turns out.