Apple's self-developed baseband project is stillborn. The iPhone 15/16 series will still use Qualcomm baseband
Baseband affects the network and communication of mobile phones. A good baseband can bring users a very good network experience. As we all know, Qualcomm has always been in the lead in baseband. However, due to the patents of Apple and Qualcomm, the two sides once filed a lawsuit, which led Apple to want to get rid of Qualcomm's baseband influence. However, this solution did not take shape in the end. According to relevant analysis, Apple's next 15 and 16 series will still use Qualcomm's baseband.
Recently, an analyst predicted that due to the stillbirth of Apple's self-developed baseband project, the iPhone will still use Qualcomm baseband in the last two generations, which means that the communication baseband of iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 will still use Qualcomm baseband. He predicted that the iPhone 16 series, which will be released in 2024, will carry the Snapdragon X75 modem that Qualcomm has not yet released. Like the Snapdragon X70, the X75 baseband will be based on the 4nm process of TSMC, which can bring a good signal use experience. Previously, Apple reached a patent litigation settlement with Qualcomm in 2019.
Previously, Apple had planned to have its own baseband on all iPhones in 2023. However, due to the stagnation of the self-developed baseband project, the time for iPhone to carry the self-developed baseband will be far away. At present, theiPhone 14 series is equipped with Qualcomm X65 baseband. Qualcomm X65 baseband, released in February 2021, is the first baseband in the world to support 10Gbps 5G speed and meet the 3GPP Release 16 specification, bringing signal improvement to the iPhone 14 series.
To sum up, Apple will still rely on the baseband provided by Qualcomm for a long time due to the failure of self-developed baseband. Although the cost has increased, Qualcomm baseband is still the best at present, which can effectively improve the signal problem of Apple mobile phones and bring users a better network and communication experience.
