Rumor | The iPhone 14 series will come with 5G modems made for Apple by TSMC

The current iPhone 13 series is 5G-enabled thanks to the Snapdragon X60 modem from Qualcomm, found separately from the flagships' Apple A15 Bionic SoC. Their 14-series successors, on the other hand, are rumored to go a considerably different way for their next-gen modules. 

Apple is said to be about to drop Qualcomm as a source of 5G modems for flagship mobile devices soon; however, the Cupertino giant's alternative solution, (which it may or may not have developed itself) still needs to be farmed out to one foundry or another for actual manufacture.

This order has been said to be most likely awarded to either Samsung or TSMC - or possibly both, for the most unusually niche chipset-lottery situation ever. However, according to the media outlet UDN, all iPhone 14-series 5G modems will in fact be manufactured by the latter.

Samsung silicon technology might not be missed here, however, as the chips in question are now touted to benefit from the Taiwanese manufacturer's 6 nanometer (nm) process for radiofrequency (RF) modules. This architecture is now slated to deliver a "significant" boost to wireless performance compared to the X60.

Then again, that Qualcomm product launched with a 5G baseband of a world-first 5nm variety; therefore, should the new UDN report prove accurate, it will be interesting to see how which modem comes out on top in review and in ther real world.

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