2025 iPhone SE Said to Feature Apple-Designed 5G Modem

Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu has claimed in a research note that a new iPhone SE with Apple-designed 5G modem will debut in 2025 (via MacRumors).

IPhone SE 5G Apple Modem

The custom-designed 5G modem will be produced by Apple’s chipmaking partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), said Pu.

Previously, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed that Apple is working on a fourth-generation iPhone SE with a 6.1-inch OLED display and an Apple-designed 5G modem.

According to Kuo, the modem will be built with TSMC’s 4nm process and will only support sub-6GHz bands, with mass production beginning in the first half of 2024.

Last month, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said Apple might make the long-rumoured switch to its own 5G modems for the iPhone with 2024’s iPhone 16.

“We’re making no plans for 2024, my planning assumption is we’re not providing [Apple] a modem in ’24, but it’s their decision to make,” said Amon at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Apple was originally expected to ditch Qualcomm cellular modems for its own as early as this year, but the company’s custom chips aren’t ready just yet.

Current generation iPhone SE is equipped with Qualcomm’s custom Snapdragon X57 chip for sub-6GHz 5G. The device features a Home button and Touch ID, with Face ID expected for the next model.

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