6G Cellular Modem Systems Engineer

Apple • San Diego, CA

7d

About The Position

Apple is seeking a Cellular Systems Engineer to help define and build the next generation of cellular technology as the company transitions toward 6G. The role focuses on end-to-end wireless systems, including 3GPP standards, feature definition and planning, design, and hardware and software architecture and partitioning. The engineer will develop performance and power optimizations and features that improve user experiences across Apple products.

The engineer will own the cellular modem systems lifecycle, from defining feature sets and capabilities through concept development, algorithm design, silicon bring-up, and productization. The role involves cross-functional collaboration with ecosystem, SoC, PHY, PHY hardware, PHY firmware, and L1 software teams to ensure end-to-end system requirements are met across the full stack.

Requirements

• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or a related field.
• 10 or more years of relevant industry experience.
• Strong knowledge of cellular communication standards and associated feature sets, including emerging 6G, 5G NR, and 4G LTE, particularly 3GPP RAN1.
• Proficiency in MATLAB, C/C++, and/or Python for algorithm development, fixed- and floating-point modeling, and link-level simulation.
• Experience using generative AI and LLM-based tools to accelerate engineering workflows, such as algorithm prototyping, code generation, simulation analysis, or technical documentation.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in Layer 1/2 control design of cellular systems.
• Experience designing low-power algorithms for power-constrained mobile platforms.
• Experience with end-to-end timeline analysis for latency-critical PHY processing chains.
• Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, stochastic processes, and detection and estimation theory.
• Familiarity with 3GPP standardization processes, RAN2 and RAN4 topics, and emerging 6G study items such as AI/ML for the air interface, joint communication and sensing, and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces.
• A track record of published research or patents in wireless communications.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end lifecycle of cellular modem systems, from feature-set and capability definition through concept work, algorithm design, silicon bring-up, and productization.
• Define features and capabilities that improve the cellular user experience across Apple products.
• Develop cellular system algorithms and contribute to system design and hardware/software architecture and partitioning.
• Deliver performance and power optimizations and features.
• Collaborate with ecosystem, SoC, PHY, PHY hardware, PHY firmware, and L1 software teams to ensure end-to-end system requirements are met across the full stack.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior