Apple has begun recruiting talent for 6G modems even before shipping its own 5G versions.
Cupertino has sought to decrease its reliance on third-party suppliers for chips in recent years. Apple looks to extend the success of building its impressive in-house M1 SoCs to next-generation modems.
Two roles for a ‘6G Cellular Platform Architect’ were posted by Apple within days of each other here and here.
With 6G not yet even standardised and 5G networks still coming online, these are very early roles that show Apple’s eagerness to get a jump on the next generation of wireless technology.
“Are you ready to be part of a team transforming wireless technology? Come and work on challenges that no one has solved yet!” wrote Apple in its posting.
The posting says that successful candidates will drive and coordinate the design and modelling of a 6G reference architecture. A deep understanding of wireless systems, network architectures, and user applications and services is required.
It’s all fairly standard, but what’s somewhat notable is the request for the candidate to have demonstrated experience in “applying AI/ML techniques to specific problem statements”.
Apple also posted jobs for machine-learning engineers this week. In the posting, applications need to be familiar with “wireless system optimization for augmented reality, virtual reality and automotive applications”.
The postings sound like the candidates would be working closely together to ensure Apple’s future devices can handle next-generation applications, such as making the metaverse a reality.
While a 6G modem from Apple shouldn’t be expected until the end of the decade, the company is known to be working on its own 5G modems that should make an appearance much sooner.
(Photo by Laurenz Heymann on Unsplash)
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