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

Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

iPhone 18 Pro Max Rumored to Deliver Next-Level Battery Life

Friday February 6, 2026 5:14 am PST by
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a bigger battery for continued best-in-class battery life, according to a known Weibo leaker. Citing supply chain information, the Weibo user known as "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a battery capacity of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh. Combined with the efficiency improvements of the A20 Pro chip, made with TSMC's 2nm process, the...

Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
95 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
95 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
95 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
95 months ago
In an ally behind Qualcomm HQ...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ghostface147 Avatar
95 months ago
Well do they have a deer stand set up?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Weaselboy Avatar
95 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)