It appears that the iPhone will continue to require modems from third-party suppliers for the foreseeable future. According to a report out of Asia, Apple is discontinuing efforts to manufacture 5G modems in-house.

This is according to the operator of the Naver blog news aggregator account Yeux1122. Apparently supply chain sources are claiming that Apple is putting an end to modem development; Leaker's @Tech_Reve posted on X that they have heard similar reports from other Japanese solas.

While not the most well-supported claim, it's no secret that Apple's modem development efforts, which began around 2018, have yet to bear fruit. Earlier this year, Qualcomm announced that it would supply modems for the iPhone until 2026, suggesting that Apple modems are not ready.

Another report earlier this year (by Marc Gurman of Bloomberg) reported another problem with modem development at Apple. Apple had to deal with problems caused by software code it acquired when it bought Intel's modem business. Apple rushed to incorporate new features, which often caused other features to break or require a complete rewrite, according to the report. Production was also delayed by the problem of having to develop a modem without infringing Qualcomm's patents.

Apple aimed to develop its own modem in order to have more control over the components used to manufacture the iPhone. If Qualcomm released its latest modem, Apple would miss out on the latest technology because the manufacturing process for that year's iPhone was already underway. This means that Apple is using a modem that is a generation behind the one used in Samsung's latest flagship model, the Galaxy S. For example, earlier this year Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X75 modem, while the iPhone 15 model uses the X70.

Originally, Apple's modem chip was slated for release this year and was to be included in the upcoming iPhone SE 4. The iPhone SE 4 has other rumored features and is said to feature a new design similar to the iPhone 14, but a new type of modem is apparently not among the new features.