On the second day of their blockbuster trial, Apple and Qualcomm announced that they had reached a settlement and would “dismiss all litigation between the two companies worldwide.” It’s a surprisingly amicable result, especially considering the two years of legal battles that led up to it. But the publicly announced details have left some major questions about what happened and the big implications for Apple’s first 5G phone.

Apple first announced it was suing Qualcomm back in January 2017 over allegedly unfair patent fees for smartphone modems, after which the two companies got to work taking pot shots at one another. Qualcomm attempted (with some success) to get iPhones banned in Apple’s key markets over patent infringements, and it even claimed that Apple had stolen its proprietary technology and given it to its main competitor, Intel.

Now, Apple has agreed to make a payment to Qualcomm for an undisclosed amount, and the two companies have agreed to a six-year global patent licensing deal that could be extended by two more years. The deal also includes terms for Qualcomm to supply Apple with chips.

Following the news of the settlement, Intel announced that it would be exiting the 5G smartphone modem business. Intel was set to be Qualcomm’s biggest competitor in the area. That’s quite a coincidence.

All of the litigation has now been dropped, but there’s still a lot we don’t know about the deal or how their new relationship is going to work in the future. Here are our five biggest questions:

Now don’t be surprised if Apple buys some of, or all of, Intel’s modem business IP.



I predicted this years ago so fingers crossed my crystal ball ws clear :) — Ben Bajarin (@BenBajarin) April 16, 2019

The answers to at least some of these questions will become clear over time. And as far as legal concerns go, Qualcomm isn’t out of the woods just yet. We’re currently awaiting a judge’s decision about a separate lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission, and the result could have big implications for the licensing arrangements between the two companies. But the internal decisions that led to yesterday’s surprise announcement may never become public, even though the deal’s aftermath will shape the smartphone modem market for years.