Qualcomm still wants to cooperate with Apple on a 5G iPhone

Posted:
in iPhone edited November 2019
If Apple indeed having its reported trouble securing a 5G modem for 2020 iPhones from Intel or other vendors, Qualcomm is standing by, the chipmaker's president said on Friday.

iPhone XS


"We're still in San Diego, they have our phone number," Qualcomm's President Cristiano Amon told Axios. "If they call, we'll support them."

The executive also said however that while he "can't really comment on what Apple is doing," the longer any company waits to launch a 5G device, the higher the bar will be, presumably referring to competing phones and tablets. Samsung's first compatible model, the S10 5G, is launching imminently.

The comments follow a report saying that Apple is still striving for a 5G modem from Intel, but that the XMM 8160 has missed multiple development deadlines. Apple has allegedly set a summer cutoff for sample chips, with a finished product due by early 2020 -- around the time new iPhones would be finalizing.

Qualcomm already has 5G modems on offer, but Apple has been eschewing them in light of the global legal war between the two companies that began in 2017. Almost all iPhones now use Intel-made 4G modems, the only exceptions being older models skirting bans.

Apple is reportedly working on its own 5G chip under the aegis of senior VP of Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji. The project is said to have between 1,200 and 2,000 engineers, some of them recruited from Intel and Qualcomm, but may nevertheless have to wait until 2021 to deliver a product.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 56
    and the cost will be??????

    Settlement of all outstanding cases in QC's favour.
  • Reply 2 of 56
    SagarSagar Posts: 3unconfirmed, member
    I wonder why Intel is even bothering to make a 5G modem chip when their only customer Apple itself is building it.
  • Reply 3 of 56
    SagarSagar Posts: 3unconfirmed, member
    and the cost will be??????

    Settlement of all outstanding cases in QC's favour.
    And then Apple will file all those cases and some more against qualcomm later on, saying that qualvomm was the only viable 5G modem supplier, and it should be punished for being so good at R&D.
  • Reply 4 of 56
    Mid PrissMid Priss Posts: 5unconfirmed, member
     I was driving through Indianapolis the other day and my iPhone 10 XS hooked up to 5G. I ran Speedtest and topped out at 120 Mbps. 

    racerhomie3
  • Reply 5 of 56
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,911member
    Sagar said:
    I wonder why Intel is even bothering to make a 5G modem chip when their only customer Apple itself is building it.
    There may be other customers we don’t know about, or there may be collaboration agreements between the two we don’t know about. 


    and the cost will be??????

    Settlement of all outstanding cases in QC's favour.
    QC: “oops - there’s a typo. There are supposed to be a couple more zeros after the price. Oh, and there’s a $1 ‘user fee’ every time it connects to the network.”
  • Reply 6 of 56
    mf2kmf2k Posts: 11member
    Dear Qualcomm, suing your customers is a bad idea. Especially when they are largest company by stock valuation. 
    patchythepirateols
  • Reply 7 of 56
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,621member
    Sagar said:
    I wonder why Intel is even bothering to make a 5G modem chip when their only customer Apple itself is building it.
    QC announced that the X50 would ship on 30 phones this year. They then announced the X55 at MWC2019.

    Apple is one of many customers.
    racerhomie3
  • Reply 8 of 56
    Mid Priss said:
     I was driving through Indianapolis the other day and my iPhone 10 XS hooked up to 5G. I ran Speedtest and topped out at 120 Mbps. 

    As has been discussed dozens of times, and with AT&T being sued by Sprint for misleading customers, the faux 5G that AT&T is displaying on iPhones is NOT actual 5G. 120Mbps is the higher end of 4G LTE, not anywhere near what actual 5G should do, unless coming from Sprint, of course. It’s not uncommon for me to pull near 120Mbps using my iPhone XS Max on Verizon. AT&T did something similar with “4G” labeling on iPhones prior to the iPhone 5’s LTE capability. It’s still used as a means of knowing if the user is connected to HSDPA+ or LTE.
    1STnTENDERBITSMid Priss
  • Reply 9 of 56
    Mid Priss said:
     I was driving through Indianapolis the other day and my iPhone 10 XS hooked up to 5G. I ran Speedtest and topped out at 120 Mbps. 

    Your post represents the perfect anecdotal evidence of the deceptive nature of AT&T's fake 5G campaign.  With 5Ge, it's pretty obvious their intent was to make customers think they're on 5G... actual 5G.  In this instance with you, it seems to work just like they planned.  You even shared your Speedtest results as "proof".  AT&T needs to be kicked, metaphorically of course, in the nards.  Here's to Sprint's lawsuit wearing steel toed boots.
    racerhomie3longpathbonobobapplesnorangesstompyGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 10 of 56
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    Apple vs Qualcomm fight would not have come to this stage if Qualcomm agreed with fair IP pricing. Once Apple and others get into building it's own 5G modem, than Qualcomm will continue loosing business.
    realistic
  • Reply 11 of 56
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,621member
    wood1208 said:
    Apple vs Qualcomm fight would not have come to this stage if Qualcomm agreed with fair IP pricing. Once Apple and others get into building it's own 5G modem, than Qualcomm will continue loosing business.
    That is possibly true to a point but Apple will still have to pay QC for its share of 5G IP. 
    1STnTENDERBITSmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 12 of 56
    Kudos to Qualcomm for at least 'being at the ready' ...in case Apple gets desperate in not being left out of a true 5G offering in 2020.
  • Reply 13 of 56
    LatkoLatko Posts: 398member
    If anything, Apple perfected its multi-(non)supplier scenario: QC, Intel, themselves.
    edited April 2019
  • Reply 14 of 56
    KuyangkohKuyangkoh Posts: 838member
    Mid Priss said:
     I was driving through Indianapolis the other day and my iPhone 10 XS hooked up to 5G. I ran Speedtest and topped out at 120 Mbps. 

    As has been discussed dozens of times, and with AT&T being sued by Sprint for misleading customers, the faux 5G that AT&T is displaying on iPhones is NOT actual 5G. 120Mbps is the higher end of 4G LTE, not anywhere near what actual 5G should do, unless coming from Sprint, of course. It’s not uncommon for me to pull near 120Mbps using my iPhone XS Max on Verizon. AT&T did something similar with “4G” labeling on iPhones prior to the iPhone 5’s LTE capability. It’s still used as a means of knowing if the user is connected to HSDPA+ or LTE.
    Wow at that speed? You will be throttled in no time unless your in a limited tier by AT&T.
  • Reply 15 of 56
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Got a huge laugh out of me. 
  • Reply 16 of 56
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,621member
    Maybe if Apple bought QC?

    A lot of real problems could get resolved in one stroke and they would have an important 5G card going forward.


  • Reply 17 of 56
    realisticrealistic Posts: 1,154member
    All Qualcomm has accomplished to this point is guarantee that Apple will either develop their own modem chipset or financial support another vendor in doing so.
    ols
  • Reply 18 of 56
    SagarSagar Posts: 3unconfirmed, member
    avon b7 said:
    Sagar said:
    I wonder why Intel is even bothering to make a 5G modem chip when their only customer Apple itself is building it.
    QC announced that the X50 would ship on 30 phones this year. They then announced the X55 at MWC2019.

    Apple is one of many customers.
    Clearly you misread my comment. I mentioned Intel, not Qualcomm.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 19 of 56
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,621member
    Sagar said:
    avon b7 said:
    Sagar said:
    I wonder why Intel is even bothering to make a 5G modem chip when their only customer Apple itself is building it.
    QC announced that the X50 would ship on 30 phones this year. They then announced the X55 at MWC2019.

    Apple is one of many customers.
    Clearly you misread my comment. I mentioned Intel, not Qualcomm.
    Yes. Sorry. I even quoted your intel reference!

    Sorry again.
    wuhacixuyo
  • Reply 20 of 56
    hammeroftruthhammeroftruth Posts: 1,303member
    Timing of this statement is interesting when over at CNET, their initial testing of 5G is mixed.
    Especially when they were right under the 5G transmitter with a 5G capable device. 
    They were comparing it to the roll out of 4G. 

    I have a feeling that you won’t see a nationwide network until late 2020 anyway. 

    Plus, get ready for some customer backlash when they see their bill go way up for 5G service. 
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