Intel to Supply Up to 50% of Faster LTE Chips for iPhone 7

[MacRumors]

Intel will supply up to 50 percent of faster LTE chips, manufactured by TSMC and KYEC, for the iPhone 7 series expected to launch in September, according to DigiTimes.

Intel will itself package the modem chips for the upcoming new iPhones, but have contracted Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and tester King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) to manufacture the chips, the sources said.

Apple's current LTE chip supplier Qualcomm previously hinted that it would be losing LTE modem orders from one of its major customers to one of its leading competitors, which increasingly points towards Apple and Intel respectively. Multiple rumors have hinted at the switch from Qualcomm to Intel since early 2015.

CLSA Securities analyst Srini Pajjuri issued a research note in March that said Intel has secured a "significant portion" of the LTE chip orders, likely in the range of 30 to 40 percent of production. Qualcomm is expected to be tasked with the remaining orders, but it will no longer be the primary supplier.

Intel reportedly has 1,000 or more employees working on preparing its 7360 LTE modem for the next-generation iPhone. Intel's 7360 LTE modem chip [PDF] features faster theoretical downlink speeds up to 450 Mbps, uplink speeds up to 100 Mbps, and support for LTE category 10 and 29 LTE bands overall.

For customers, the switch to Intel modems means the iPhone 7 could have faster LTE speeds for browsing the web, downloading apps, streaming video, and other data-related tasks. Apple already improved LTE speeds on the iPhone 6s series by adopting LTE-Advanced for downlink speeds up to a theoretical max of 300 Mbps.

Qualcomm has been Apple's exclusive supplier of LTE modems for over three years, including the MDM9635 chipset in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, which provides theoretical downlink speeds up to 300 Mbps and uplink speeds up to 50 Mbps. Real-world download speeds will vary.

Article Link: Intel to Supply Up to 50% of Faster LTE Chips for iPhone 7

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Why isn't Intel making these chips themselves!!!!!!!

 

[joueboy]

Well we can have all the fastest LTE chip in our phone but all our carrier in the US sucks. What's the point?

 

[gsmornot]

Well we can have all the fastest LTE chip in our phone but all our carrier in the US sucks. What's the point?

People tend to keep devices for longer than a few months, more like years. In the years they have the device the supporting networks could have upgrades completed that will make use of the technology. This is forward thinking.

 

[Xiph0s]

Well we can have all the fastest LTE chip in our phone but all our carrier in the US sucks. What's the point?

Aww man, you beat me to it. The cellular reception with ATT in the greater nyc area is terrible. I dont think a faster chip is going to do anything.

 

[H2SO4]

Well we can have all the fastest LTE chip in our phone but all our carrier in the US sucks. What's the point?

I gotta say I agree. Also with that stupid 100MB data cap, what’s the point of having blazing speeds. Where is the entry level 32GB or FM Radio instead Tim???

 

[Michael Scrip]

For customers, the switch to Intel modems means the iPhone 7 could have faster LTE speeds for browsing the web, downloading apps, streaming video, and other data-related tasks. Apple already improved LTE speeds on the iPhone 6s series by adopting LTE-Advanced for downlink speeds up to a theoretical max of 300 Mbps.

As others have said... none of this means anything unless the carrier can deliver those speeds.

Hell... the average home broadband speed in the US is around 12mbps. Do we really think wireless carriers are gonna crank up the speed?

 

[Tycho24]

People tend to keep devices for longer than a few months, more like years. In the years they have the device the supporting networks could have upgrades completed that will make use of the technology. This is forward thinking.

Lol, cute try... but average LTE speeds are like 10-20mb & "really good" LTE speeds are 100-140mb.
Upping the max from 300mb to 450mb does nada... the big zip, zero, zilch.
That's like saying a pile vaulter could jump higher if we just took the gym ceiling that is three times higher than he jumps & made it FOUR times higher than he jumps!

 

[BeSweeet]

Lol, cute try... but average LTE speeds are like 10-20mb & "really good" LTE speeds are 100-140mb.
Upping the max from 300mb to 450mb does nada... the big zip, zero, zilch.
That's like saying a pile vaulter could jump higher if we just took the gym ceiling that is three times higher than he jumps & made it FOUR times higher than he jumps!

Technically, it'll setup for additional carrier aggregation and MIMO techniques for even faster speeds.

I'd rather they make an antenna system and baseband that don't suck.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

Intel surely must have a roadmap that includes a strong desire to fab iPhone procs.

 

[Carlanga]

Nice, shame USA data caps are ridiculous.

I will keep my unlimited for as long as I can.

 

[jmh600cbr]

But the 2017 iPhone 8 will have 200% faster LTE

 

[Carlanga]

Why isn't Intel making these chips themselves!!!!!!!

The same reason Apple is not making the iPhone themselves!!!!!!

 

[smacrumon]

And there we have it, a "faster" iPhone, in an old rehashed container that already had flaws with its protruding camera, antenna bands and dotty smart connector. The trickle of features is not good enough for an upgrade, sorry.

 

[emm386]

I'd rather they make an antenna system and baseband that don't suck

You're holding it wrong!

 

[coolfactor]

As others have said... none of this means anything unless the carrier can deliver those speeds.

Hell... the average home broadband speed in the US is around 12mbps. Do we really think wireless carriers are gonna crank up the speed?

12mbps is plenty fast enough to enjoy the internet without much delay. What makes this experience slow is the uplink speed - most of these connections are typically 1/12th this speed... 1mbps. This is where the real bottleneck is, but thankfully the rollout of fiber seems to have finally changed the tides where the uplink connection is getting the bandwidth that it deserves.

 

[Wondercow]

Intel has secured a "significant portion" of the LTE chip orders, likely in the range of 30 to 40 percent of production. Qualcomm is expected to be tasked with the remaining orders, but it will no longer be the primary supplier

How can Qualcomm supply the majority of the chips, 60%-70%, but not be the primary supplier? How does Macrumors define "primary supplier"?

 

[Michael Scrip]

12mbps is plenty fast enough to enjoy the internet without much delay. What makes this experience slow is the uplink speed - most of these connections are typically 1/12th this speed... 1mbps. This is where the real bottleneck is, but thankfully the rollout of fiber seems to have finally changed the tides where the uplink connection is getting the bandwidth that it deserves.

It's true that upload speed is a fraction of download speed... but uplinks are usually very small data requests in comparison to the huge amounts of data that is downloaded.

The average person isn't gonna notice much difference in uplink speeds unless they spend most of their day uploading video to Youtube or do massive cloud backups.

Any complaints about "internet speed" are usually download related... not upload related.

But yes... everything should get faster... in a perfect world.

 

[2457248]

And there we have it, a "faster" iPhone, in an old rehashed container that already had flaws with its protruding camera, antenna bands and dotty smart connector. The trickle of features is not good enough for an upgrade, sorry.

i'm sorry, but is anyone forcing you to buy one when it comes out? what's the problem then? simply don't.

 

[macduke]

My LTE is always blazing fast. If my home WiFi is crapping out, which it is likely to do (Mediacom), then I just switch on LTE, and suddenly my entire video buffers and there goes most of my data plan, lol.

This speed doesn't mean anything until carriers significantly increase data caps. It's appalling that most U.S. carrier plans in 2016 start between 300MB and 2GB. Only Sprint has acceptable data plans at higher prices, but it's also Sprint, and so you're probably screwed unless you live in a few very specific areas.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wish that instead of increasing speed all the time, they somehow increase the capacity these towers can take, or create or implement a new wireless technology (like P Cell) that gets around most limitations of cellular-based networking. Although I have a feeling that these towers aren't nearly as stressed as they were years ago on 3G—they're just milking us for more money than they ever have.

 

[Solomani]

Interesting.

So the upcoming iPhone 7 LTE chips are "Intel branded", but in reality they are simply being manufactured by TSMC, which is already an established Apple supplier/manufacturer.

I'm sure Intel is smart enough to have come up with the laudable LTE chip designs themselves. But give it a few years, and those Chinese manufacturers will simply steal the chip design or reverse-engineer it, and eventually kick out Intel as the "middle man".

 

[guychicago]

Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourselves for LTEgate...(2 different modem suppliers)

 

[Tycho24]

Technically, it'll setup for additional carrier aggregation and MIMO techniques for even faster speeds.

I'd rather they make an antenna system and baseband that don't suck.

Yesssss!
More bars please.

 

[smacrumon]

i'm sorry, but is anyone forcing you to buy one when it comes out? what's the problem then? simply don't.

No one is forcing me to buy one when it comes out, I'm simply giving my assessment based on the article.

 

[Zirel]

Well we can have all the fastest LTE chip in our phone but all our carrier in the US sucks. What's the point?

What's the point?

Imagine this: Apple selling iPhone outside the US.

Wouldn't that be wild? Just let your imagination flow! Think different.