Not that I'm a huge fan of Apple's decisions of late, but just to play devils advocate, say they had different chips with different maximum speeds and they didn't throttle them- do people really think there wouldn't be a huge outcry over Some phones performing faster than others? Seems like they were damned if they did, damned if they didn't. Currently all of the phones meet the published specs, so it's not like you're not getting what you're paying for.
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Apple May Be Throttling Verizon iPhone 7 LTE Performance
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but why didn't apple just use the better modem in all markets? then they wouldn't have to make the better modem perform worse to make it match the Intel pos
Yeah, looking at that site (which is really nicely done) it is very unclear what their business model is. There are no ads, there is no paywall, there is no subscription service or offer to sell more data. There isn't even any info on the authors.
They say: "But rather than bombarding you with redundant smartphone unboxing videos, camera performance reviews, subjective opinions on design and user interface, we will evaluate the modem, antenna, and front end performance of popular smartphones. Our goal is to bring this essential and long forgotten topic to the forefront, and create a discussion."
Seems like this might be a long game move to get some additional love (meaning market share) for the nuts and bolts of smartphones. I agree that they are funded by someone and that someone has an agenda. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that their data and facts are wrong. They might be or they might be true and just trying to get credit for a superior product.
I agree with you that intentions should always be investigated. And almost always these kinds of things are simply self-advertisements for the services that such companies provide. To get attention, they publish something click worthy. Which usually means something about Apple
That said, after reading a bunch of Cellular Insight's blogs, there doesn't seem to be any particular agenda, except maybe to accidentally promote T-Mobile.
As for their concentration on Qualcomm, well after all, most phones do use Qualcomm modems in the USA, and there's no doubt that the current Intel offering has fewer features. Those are facts they can't change.
Moreover, they're not alone in concentrating on Qualcomm. It seems that's pretty normal. E.g. Not All 4G LTE Modems Are Created Equal - Forbes guest article by Moor Insight & Strategy
Everything I've read says that Qualcomm is best at power savings, partly because it can spend the least amount of time online to download the same amount.
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Jesus Christ people, cellular insights isn't some conspiracy company, it's ONE guy on Reddit that tests phone modems. Here is his user profile:
https://www.reddit.com/user/milan03/
https://www.reddit.com/user/milan03/submitted/
Here's what he said about the throttling:
I would certainly not call it "throttling". Apple simply paid Qualcomm to supply the X12 modem built to Apple's spec. They wanted to keep 3-Way DL CA, and 2-Way Uplink CA, but they explicitly declined to pay for features like DL-256QAM, UL-64QAM, 4x4 MIMO, EVS, etc. That custom configured X12 spec just happened to match Intel's XMM7360 maximum possible LTE capability to a T.
And to the guy that said Intel is using a brand new modem: The Qualcomm x12 modem is brand new, but not using its full features. The Intel xmm7360, on the other hand was released last year in 2015!
https://www.reddit.com/user/milan03/
https://www.reddit.com/user/milan03/submitted/
Here's what he said about the throttling:
I would certainly not call it "throttling". Apple simply paid Qualcomm to supply the X12 modem built to Apple's spec. They wanted to keep 3-Way DL CA, and 2-Way Uplink CA, but they explicitly declined to pay for features like DL-256QAM, UL-64QAM, 4x4 MIMO, EVS, etc. That custom configured X12 spec just happened to match Intel's XMM7360 maximum possible LTE capability to a T.
And to the guy that said Intel is using a brand new modem: The Qualcomm x12 modem is brand new, but not using its full features. The Intel xmm7360, on the other hand was released last year in 2015!
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and you believe anything anti-apple even when there is no "proof"?
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agree! I'd love to smell anything close to 450Mbps..... I'm getting more like 35-60 on LTE through ATT. Just tested... 31 Down, 14 up.
Now I'm starting to wonder if *you* are a shill. What's your relationship to Intel and Qualcomm? I can't accept anything else you say until you back up that you are legitimate.
I'm not going to worry about this anymore. I'll be happy as long as the iPhone 7 works. That's good enough for me.
I'm not asking you to accept anything I say because I'm not saying anything. I'm asking questions. I questioned their motives and I questioned their impartiality. I've seen nothing that answers those questions, neither here nor on their web site.
Cost, control and multiple sourcing.
Qualcomm demands a high price. Intel will do whatever Apple asks, to get a foot in the door. And it's always better to have more than one source.
It's like how Apple plays TSMC against Samsung.
that's the problem though.no carrier can come close to what these modems can do full tilt.its the performance difference with low to mid signal strength we are talking about.
the Qualcomm gets 2-3x faster downloads and uploads at low signal strength where most people would take advantage of in real life scenarios .I hit 40mb with 1 bar on my gs7.i ts the same modem but is being crippled.i know the gs7 has 4 antennas on it and wonder if it's an apple design thing that has something to do with it also.
Results vary wildly depending on what tower and what back-end you are using in the Speed test app. I've been to some locations I can't even get 40 standing under a cell tower, other places get much better.