According to a new report from The Information, Apple is in talks to buy a portion of Intel’s smartphone modem business. This isn’t the first time Apple has been rumored to have an interest in Intel’s modem business, but today’s report suggests that Apple is still in talks with the company about a potential deal.
The two companies have been in discussions since last year, but The Information warns that the talks could still fall through without a deal. The Information estimates that a deal for Intel’s German modem business could bring “hundreds” of modem engineers to Apple. Intel’s chip production facilities are headquartered in Germany after a 2011 purchase of chip maker Infineon.
The publication notes that a number of former Intel executives, who were assimilated as part of the Infineon deal, now work at Apple. While some were recruited years ago, others, like Stefan Wolff, former manager of Intel’s German modem outfit, came to Cupertino within the past few months. In February, Apple hired former Intel executive Umashankar Thyagarajan, an engineer thought to play a key role in the development of the chipmaker’s XMM 8160 5G modem.
The company had been planning to use Intel’s 5G chips for its 2020 iPhones, but rumors indicated Intel wasn’t able to meet design deadlines, causing the relationship between the two companies to sour. Apple is now planning to use Qualcomm’s 5G modem chips in its 2020 5G iPhones, and is also working on its own modem chip development for later devices.
In the future, Apple is aiming to reduce its dependence on suppliers like Qualcomm by creating its own modem chips, but the company still has a few years to go before the technology is ready. Apple has been telling new modem chip hires in San Diego that it doesn’t expect to release devices with its own modem chips until 2025.
