Qualcomm no more: Apple will exclusively use slower Intel modems in 2018 iPhones

Apple and Qualcomm have been in a long-term legal dispute, suing each other back and forth. Here's a timeline of some of the events that took place since 2017.

• In January 2017, Apple sues Qualcomm for $1 billion over excessive royalties.
• In April 2017, Qualcomm sues Apple for making its modems look inferior to Intel's
• In November 2017, Qualcomm sues Apple of sharing Qualcomm's trade secrets with Intel and later tried to ban Apple from producing and selling iPhones in China.
• In January of this year, Qualcomm was fined € 1 billion for paying Apple to use its chips over Intel's.

Today, CNET reports that Qualcomm will no longer supply Apple with chips for its 2018 iPhones. George Davis, Qualcomm's Financial Chief said "We believe Apple intends to solely use our competitor's modems rather than our modems in its next iPhone release," during an earnings call with industry analysts.

This doesn't mean that Qualcomm and Apple are done forever, according to Cristiano Amon, head of Qualcomm's chip division. The company believes it can be a supplier for Apple in the future.

Over the past few years, Apple has used both Intel and Qualcomm modems in different variants of various iPhone models and various online testimonies have experienced stronger signal and LTE speeds on those with Qualcomm modems.

In fact, just two days ago, Qualcomm and Ookla's Speedtest.com proved through its millions of tests that Qualcomm powered Android devices are faster than Apple's devices that specifically used Intel modems: 53% faster on T-Mobile and 40% faster on AT&T.

Qualcomm didn't specifically say which competitor Apple would buy modems from, but we're pretty sure it's Intel. We wonder if Intel will be able to keep up with the iPhone's production demand or if Apple will find another chip maker to provide modems in case of a shortage. In any case, Qualcomm won't be a part of the 2018 iPhone. .

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