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Apple is set to introduce its first in-house 5G modem, marking a significant step in reducing its reliance on Qualcomm for network connectivity in its devices. The new modem codenamed “Sinope,” will debut with the 2025 iPhone SE and will be integrated into select low-end iPads shortly thereafter.
After more than five years of development, Apple’s modem is anticipated to offer improved cost-efficiency and superior integration with its processors, thereby enhancing power consumption and facilitating advanced satellite connectivity capabilities.
While the Sinope modem is compatible with sub-6 GHz 5G technology, it does not possess the millimeter-wave capabilities provided by Qualcomm’s latest modems. Furthermore, Apple’s modem can support four-carrier aggregation, whereas Qualcomm’s modem offers a more sophisticated six-carrier aggregation. Although Apple’s modem has attained laboratory velocities of up to 4 Gbps, it has not yet reached the performance standards set by Qualcomm.
The upcoming iPhone SE will showcase this new modem along with a sleek edge-to-edge display and Apple’s proprietary intelligence features. Despite the relatively basic modem capabilities, Apple plans to continue refining its technology, with a more powerful second-generation modem expected by 2026.
This future iteration will support mmWave 5G, six-carrier aggregation for sub-6 GHz, and eight-carrier aggregation for mmWave frequencies, slated for the iPhone 18 series and high-end iPads by 2027. By that time, Apple is ready to rival Qualcomm with the third generation of a modem that will include satellite and AI capabilities.
Besides the iPhone SE, the Sinope modem will be used in the iPhone 17 Air, a thin model that is expected to take the place of the iPhone Plus. Apple’s decision to use the in-house modem first in low-priced products such as the iPhone SE is to avoid any problems that could occur when deploying the modem in high-end products.
Notably, the Sinope modem does not support mmWave which while offering download speeds of up to 10 Gbps only has a limited range. However, the modem is aimed at the more popular sub-6 GHz bandwidth, preferred by the carriers in the United States. Apple’s four-carrier aggregation will also offer solid performance, though it lags Qualcomm’s ability to aggregate six or more carriers for even greater data capacity.
