As Mark Gurman reported BloombergApple will continue to supply modem chips from Qualcomm for the 2023 iPhone 15 series. Qualcomm said it will provide the “vast majority” of modem chips for Apple devices, despite expectations that it will only provide a fraction of previous modem chips.

In November 2021, Qualcomm said it expects to supply 20 percent of Apple’s modem chips by 2023, signaling a potential switch to Apple’s own modem chips. Apple is working to reduce its reliance on Qualcomm by developing its own modem technology, but Apple’s chips don’t appear to be ready for release in 2023.

Gurman’s report echoes information we heard earlier from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In June 2022, Kuo stated that Apple’s work on the 5G modem chip had “failed” and that Qualcomm would remain Apple’s modem supplier for the 2023 iPhone series.

Kuo said that the development of the chip has stopped, but work continues. Apple is expected to build its own modem chip, but it will take more time to complete the job and make it satisfactory for use on iPhones and other devices.

In 2017, Apple sued Qualcomm, accusing Qualcomm of unfairly collecting copyrights for technologies it is not affiliated with. Apple wanted to stop paying Qualcomm royalties and leave Qualcomm for 5G to use Intel technology instead, but Intel was unable to produce 5G chips that met Apple’s standards.

Apple had to settle its case with Qualcomm and has since been using Qualcomm’s 5G modem chips for its “iPhone” and iPad lines. Since then Apple has been working on its own modem chip and has even bought Intel’s modem chip business to take advantage. Initial rumors indicated that 2023 would be the year Apple would be ready to make the switch, but it looks like it will take a little longer for Apple to end its modem deals with Qualcomm.