Apple is a company that loves to be self-sufficient, which means that they’d rather not rely on third-parties if they can help it. It is why the company tightly controls the hardware and software of its products to ensure that they have as much control from start to end. Of course it would be impossible for Apple to manufacture every component, but that’s not stopping them from trying.
According to a report from The Motley Fool, it seems that there is evidence that Apple could be working on their own cellular modem. As it stands, Apple purchases their modems from Qualcomm and Intel, but with Apple embroiled in a legal dispute against Qualcomm, it seems that maybe Apple is trying to reduce their overall dependence on them.
The Motley Fool points to a job listing on Apple’s website in which one of the positions that Apple is hoping to fill is for a “Sr. Digital IC (PHY) Design Engineer.” The position “will be part of a silicon design group responsible for digital baseband logic design in state-of-the-art wireless ICs.” Another position calls for a “Sr. RFIC Design Engineer” who “will be at the center of a wireless SoC [system-on-a-chip] design group.”
Of course there is no telling if Apple is simply looking to try their hand at making their own modems, or if they’re seriously thinking about pursuing it. After all companies like Apple tend to experiment with many things so there’s no guarantee that this endeavor will bear fruit. That being said, we’ve also heard rumors that Apple could be looking to develop its own OLED technology, which is another case in point about Apple possibly looking to be as self-sufficient as possible.
