Qualcomm, Apple extend licensing agreement for chips

Qualcomm Incorporated announced today the renewal of its global patent license agreement with Apple, effective April 1, 2027. John Han, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing, expressed satisfaction with the extension of the agreement. Apple and Qualcomm struck a deal in 2019, which concluded litigation and established a patent licensing deal and multiyear chipset supply agreement.

Despite developing its own cellular chips, Apple has continued to utilize some Qualcomm modems in its products. Currently, only the iPhone 18 Pro Max, released this year, uses Qualcomm modems, and they are limited to the U.S. market. The previous iPhone 17 also featured a Qualcomm modem, unlike last year's iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air.

Apple's decision to maintain Qualcomm modems could be attributed to supply constraints or the specifics of the licensing agreement and the termination of the ongoing court case. The patent license renewal announcement by Qualcomm did not mention the renewal of the original chipset supply agreement. It is speculated that Apple may continue to use fewer Qualcomm modems in its devices as it aims to increase the use of its own C-series chips, which offer better performance and power efficiency.

There are also rumors suggesting that MacBooks may receive cellular chips in the future, making it unlikely for Apple to continue using modems from another company.