Apple's in-house 5G iPhone modems continue to be years away from release

Ever since Apple bought Intel's smartphone model business back in 2019 we've been waiting for it to ditch Qualcomm and start to use its own radios in iPhones and iPads. That, so far, hasn't happened despite repeated rumors that it would. Now, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple continues to be around two years off using its own modems.

That two-year timeframe is one that seems to continue to exist no matter how much time passes, suggesting that Apple continues to have problems getting its ducks in a row for whatever reason. Kuo had previously said that the fourth-gen iPhone SE would be the first to use an Apple model and it's possible that is still the case. That phone in particular appears to have a fluid release timeline of its own, with 9to5Mac noting that it is thought to have had mass production delayed all the way into 2025. That timeframe could well match with this new modem one.

Kuo was writing as part of a larger look at how Qualcomm is going to be affected by changes to chip buying habits in the Android world when noting that Apple is expected to start using its own model chip starting in 2025. Interestingly, Kuo also said that he will discuss more details about that modem in the future.

Kuo is a supply chain analyst and as a result, is normally pretty accurate when it comes to reports about parts and whatnot, so we see little reason to believe he won't be on the money in terms of this latest modem report as well.