Apple's iPhone 15 is missing a chip that the company spent billions developing, report says

• Apple launched the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro at its "Wonderlust" event last week.
• The phones lack a silicon chip the company developed for years, the WSJ reported.

Apple has unveiled the new iPhone 15, but the phones are reportedly missing a silicon chip that the company spent years developing.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple spent billions of dollars trying to develop the chips in time for the phone's rollout, but was delayed by obstacles mainly of its own making.

Apple launched the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro at its "Wonderlust" event last week. The release has been hotly anticipated, but some of the phone's new features have failed to impress some fans.

Apple had been trying to develop the chip to reduce its reliance on its supplier, Qualcomm, the Journal reported.

In 2019, Apple and Qualcomm announced a six-year license agreement, which resulted in the end of a legal row between the two companies.

The FT reported earlier this month that Qualcomm extended a deal to supply 5G modems for Apple's smartphones.

Although Apple planned to have its own modem chip — tech that connects iPhones to wireless carriers — ready in time for the new phones, tests last year found the chip to be prone to overheating and too slow, the Journal reported.

Representatives for Apple did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours.