Under the terms of the agreement, over 2,200 engineers will move from Intel to Apple and forms the majority of Intel's modem business.
Apple will also acquire a range of patents, bringing the tech giant's count up to over 17,000 patents related to wireless technologies, cellular standards, and modems.
"Intel will retain the option to develop modems for non-smartphone applications, such as PCs, Internet of Things devices and autonomous vehicles," a spokesperson from Apple confirmed.
Commenting on the agreement Bob Swann said, "This agreement enables us to focus on developing technology for the 5G network while retaining critical intellectual property and modem technology that our team has created. We're looking forward to putting our full effort into 5G where it most closely aligns with the needs of our global customer base, including network operators, telecommunications equipment manufacturers, and cloud service providers."
For Apple, the purchase of a ready-made modem specialist team, along with a large number of patents, is seen as helping to reduce its reliance on Qualcomm as a component supplier for iPhone chips.
