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Apple to drop Qualcomm entirely from the iPhone and iPad next year?

By Cookie Monster - on 1 Nov 2017, 1:00am

Apple to drop Qualcomm entirely from the iPhone and iPad next year?

Apple appears to be escalating the legal battle with Qualcomm by removing the latter's chips from its product lineup next year. 

According to The Wall Street Journal, sources claim that Apple is planning to drop Qualcomm chips from the iPhone and iPad in 2018. The decision could also be due to Qualcomm "withholding" critical software for testing its chips in these products. The sources added that Apple's plans to move away from Qualcomm could still change.

Apple’s plans to exclude Qualcomm chips from next year’s model could still change. People familiar with Apple’s manufacturing process said the company could change modem-chip suppliers as late as June, three months before the next iPhone is expected to ship.

Still, some of the people said Apple hasn’t previously designed iPhones and iPads to exclude Qualcomm chips at a similar stage of the process.

Since the introduction of the iPhone 7 series last year, Apple has been working hard to reduce its reliance on Qualcomm. A potential second supplier could be MediaTek as Apple usually diversifies its supply chain to mitigate risks and negotiate better deals. 

Source: The Wall Street Journal via 9to5Mac

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