Apple allegedly have legal difficulties with in-house 5G modem

Apple's tense relationship with Qualcomm, which has been the company's sole supplier of 5G chips since Intel abandoned the arrangement, has long been a source of controversy. In fact, Apple acquired Intel's modem unit in order to eventually switch to in-house modems. According to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at KGI Securities who previously predicted that Apple would stop using Qualcomm modems by H2 2023, the technology isn't ready yet. Now FOSS Patents puts forth an alternative view: The problem with Apple's 5G efforts is a legal one rather than a technological one.

Qualcomm has a licensing agreement with Apple that runs through 2025 and an option to extend it to 2027. Originally, it was expected that Apple would move away from Qualcomm modems before then, but this appears unlikely now. The amusing thing is that there are two patents preventing Apple's progress; however, they have little to do with 5G. One allows the user to reject a call by sending a text message (for example, "I'm unavailable"), and the other concerns the app switching interface.

Here's the kicker: Qualcomm will sue Apple if it switches to its in-house modem, according to Florian Mueller. The two patents are set to expire in 2029 and 2030, respectively, and Apple's efforts to invalidate them were halted this Monday after the Supreme Court rejected Apple's appeal to revive the patent case. Originally, Apple had hoped that by late 2023 Qualcomm would only be providing 20% of the modems it needed rather than 100%. However, if Mueller is correct and things continue as they are, Apple will be required to purchase from Qualcomm and pay licensing fees for years.