New Apple Leak Reveals iPhone 15 Release Surprise. Apple leaks have already claimed some surprising iPhone 15 upgrades are coming in 2023. But now a new report says that one of the most anticipated may not be released for several years. In a research note obtained by MacRumors, Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu reveals that Apple’s first in-house 5G modem is unlikely to be ready for the iPhone 15 launch. Moreover, the analyst says it may even miss the iPhone 16 launch in 2024. This news is a surprise given that Apple purchased Intel’s 5G smartphone modem business for $1BN back in July 2019, and Intel modems were already used in smartphones worldwide, including the iPhone 11 range. Yes, tests had shown them to be inferior to Qualcomm modems, but there was nothing to suggest a 5-year market absence would be required to make them more competitive. Moreover, the news is something of a blow for iPhone fans. Apple has long shown the benefits of its tightly integrated chips, and in-house Apple modems would be expected to deliver significant performance and power efficiency gains compared to Qualcomm’s off-the-shelf X-range, which is also used by most Android rivals. That said, it is not all bad news. While Qualcomm’s first 5G modems were criticized for their high power consumption, newer models have improved dramatically.