Apple Hunting for Wireless Modem Engineers Near Qualcomm's San Diego Headquarters

iphone xr displayAccording to a new report out today by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Ian King, Apple is aggressively hiring engineers in San Diego, the headquarters of Qualcomm. Apple is looking for designers in San Diego who will help develop wireless components and processors for its iPhones, a move that would further weaken Qualcomm.

Apple posted 10 job listings in San Diego over the past month, looking for engineers to work on the company's Neural Engine artificial intelligence processor and wireless modems. This is the first time Apple has publicly recruited for these types of jobs in San Diego.

Apple is said to be working on building its own wireless chip for future iPhone models, but as of yet the company has relied on companies like Qualcomm and Intel for such technology.

Following the dispute with Qualcomm, Apple made Intel the exclusive supplier of wireless modems for the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR in 2018.

The two companies have been embroiled in a legal dispute since early 2017, with the most recent news suggesting that Apple is not in talks "at any level" to settle the dispute. Next, Apple is gearing up for a full legal trial with Qualcomm.

The lawsuits started when Apple in January 2017 sued Qualcomm for $1 billion, accusing Qualcomm of charging unfair royalties for "technologies they have nothing to do with" and failing to pay quarterly rebates. Apple and its suppliers stopped paying licensing fees at that time.

Qualcomm eventually filed a countersuit claiming that Apple had infringed on several of its patents, and attested that its technology is "at the heart of every iPhone." Since then, both companies have filed multiple lawsuits against one another, and Qualcomm even sought import and export bans on some iPhones in the United States and China.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 8 New Features

Thursday January 9, 2025 5:45 am PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of January 2025: More aluminum: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models ...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.3 Coming Soon: Here's What's New

Monday January 13, 2025 5:33 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is currently in beta for developers and public beta testers. So far, the upcoming iPhone software update is very minor in scope. Below, we outline what is new in iOS 18.3 so far. The only potential new feature coming to iPhones with iOS 18.3 so far is robot vacuum support in the Home app, but this functionality is not yet live. Apple is laying the groundwork for the feature,...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

HomePod Mini 2 and New Apple TV Launch Timeframe Narrowed Down

Sunday January 12, 2025 4:11 pm PST by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently reported that Apple plans to release new HomePod mini and Apple TV models this year, and now he has provided a more precise timeframe. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said Apple is currently aiming to launch the new HomePod mini and Apple TV models "toward the end of the year." That timeframe suggests the devices will be released at some point...
new magsafe charger

Apple Releases Updated MagSafe Charger Firmware

Tuesday January 14, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the 25W MagSafe Charger that is compatible with the iPhone 12 and later and the latest AirPods and Apple Watch models. The updated firmware is version 2A143, up from the 2A138 firmware that the accessory shipped with. In the Settings app, you'll see a different version number than the internal firmware number. The 2024 MagSafe charger was...
se 4 for 2025

When to Expect the iPhone SE 4 or So-Called 'iPhone 16E' to Launch

Friday January 10, 2025 9:20 am PST by
Apple is widely rumored to be planning a new iPhone SE, and multiple sources lately have commented on the device's launch timing. The latest word comes from Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In a blog post today, he said the device will be released around the middle of the first half of 2025. In other words, around the quarter mark of 2025. That means the next iPhone SE will likely be ...
AppleEventLogoFeature

Apple Focusing on These Eight New Low-Cost Devices in 2025

Saturday January 11, 2025 1:00 am PST by
Apple's slate of 2025 products look to be dominated by a large number of low-cost and entry-level devices. Here's what to expect. With advancements like Apple Intelligence and all-new in-house chip designs, Apple is reportedly looking to enhance many of its budget-friendly offerings, ensuring they remain competitive in an increasingly crowded market. These updates also indicate a slight...
General Apps Messages Redux

Phishing Attacks Use This Simple Trick to Defeat iPhone Message Security

Monday January 13, 2025 6:11 am PST by
A new social engineering tactic is being used by cybercriminals to trick iPhone users into disabling iMessage's built-in phishing protection, in a bid to expose them to malicious links and scams, according to BleepingComputer. The scam exploits a security feature in iMessage that automatically disables links from unknown senders. Apple told the outlet that when users reply to these messages...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Expected This Year: Here's What We Know

Wednesday January 8, 2025 7:05 am PST by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch sometime in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as...

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
81 months ago
PSA: to avoid being mistaken for a wireless modem engineer, do not wear their telltale thick glasses, flannel shirts, and lustrous hipster facial hair. Please advise family members to do the same until the end of wireless modem engineer season. Thank you.

Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KazKam Avatar
81 months ago
PSA: to avoid being mistaken for a wireless modem engineer, do not wear their telltale thick glasses, flannel shirts, and lustrous hipster facial hair. Please advise family members to do the same until the end of wireless modem engineer season. Thank you.
LOL, I was thinking along the same lines. Here's what popped into my head...

"Be vewy vewy qwiet, I'm hunting wyewess modem engineews."

Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gavroche Avatar
81 months ago
Thousands of defective phones and Apple covered up the problem by removing post on there site and banning people. To this date there is still no fix for the problem. The thread may be slowing down cause most realize that Apple will not be able to fix bad hardware till next year.
Darn... here I’ve been using my iPhone XS Max for over a month.... and didn’t even realize it wasn’t working the whole time!
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
81 months ago
In an ally behind Qualcomm HQ...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ghostface147 Avatar
81 months ago
Well do they have a deer stand set up?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Weaselboy Avatar
81 months ago
If you can’t beat em, steal their employees! ;)
California does not allow non-compete employment clauses, so Qualcomm can't stop Apple from hiring these people, but it does make me wonder how much an ex-Qualcomm employee could contribute at Apple without using proprietary information they absorbed while working at Qualcomm.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)