Meh, I have other devices that offer FM tuning. Like my 3M work tunes ear protection, or my Baofeng handheld ham radio, or my Uniden BCD486HP Digital trunking scanner.
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FCC Urges Apple to Protect Safety of Americans by Activating FM Radio Chip in iPhones [Updated]
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Yep.
Ajit Pai is only looking out for the interests of his corporate ClearChannel FM radio owner buddies.
Apple already knows FM radio is complete garbage, so it's fine to disable it.
The iPods never had a Qualcomm cellular modem installed, so their FM solution was all different.
Yes. I have US version of Galaxy S8 (unlocked, but with AT&T) which has FM chip. I can listen to FM radio all day long.
The Nano 5G didn't use Qualcomm LTE chips, or any wifi/cellular chip IIRC. The design couldn't be the same with the iPhone. While certain core parts are similar: SoC, display, headphone jack, the entire logic board is laid out very differently with a different set of chips to handle all the nice toys cellular devices need that the Nano didn't.
The reason Pai is saying Apple should turn FM support on is because Qualcomm LTE chips have it baked in. And if I was a PCB designer for Apple, I know I wouldn't have attached the pins to anything unless we knew we intended to provide the functionality. I would have left the pads with disconnected traces so I could have room to fit all the other traces that needed to be run on the PCB.
Well there you go. iPhones 7 and 8 do not even have the FM chip, so the entire discussion here is moot.
Pretty sure this is more a handset manufacturer thing and not a carrier thing as you said. My Android phone has working FM radio in it, and I bought it unlocked so it's not running "carrier software". The Android install from Sony includes an FM radio app.
These days one can read on web a reposta statement it was not so easy to enable FM i iPhones, with several argumentations used. Lot of them are simply untrue. iMusic and all services that kind will never replace FM because latter is much more than just that tiny element music. No one time had subscribed iMusic within 2 years of 6s in possesion. No plans to do that because useless. Lot of iPhone generations could technically do FM with stock equipment. My Android tablet has no probs to receive with appx 1.6 foots length headset cable. After-market industry will jumpin with nessary accesory within few weeks when market niche opens. Whole discussion around high-price-class device, a shame.
There is no hardware FM tuner. It's software-defined radio that could use input from one of wireless comm antennas that any phone undoubtedly has. Don't trust apple's bs.
Except that it is NOT built into every iPhone ever made - it is not available in the iPhone 7/7+ or later. And just because it is in the modem chip, doesn't mean that Apple even connected those pins.
I cannot believe how many times that's had to be posted in this thread and people still don't believe it. Sure, Apple invested time and money engineering all the hardware and software for an FM radio into the phone and just never bothered to turn it on.
In other news, I'm sure with the right combination of button pushes, I'll find that my car secretly has a turbo installed that I can activate.
Kind of ironic that the head of the regulatory body that approved the iPhone did not now this before he spouted off! He must have received his information from the net neutrality 8 ball.
It should be unto the manufacturers to decide what features are enabled/added, government intervention is not needed.
Simple solutions to that problem.
Search google for: hand crank phone charger
Search google for: solar power phone charger
I find Apple's response rather lacking:
They seem to assume that people will have internet or cell service when in an emergency the cell towers could be offline out of your control. They really should rethink this policy. Every phone ought to have a radio in it. It just makes sense to have that on a device that we all carry around with us. Apple should come out of their Silcon Valley bubble.
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In a safety situation (which this is) I fundamentally disagree.
The software defined radio in the broadband modem cannot work with the raw FM signal from an antenna.
That's the job of a separate RF transceiver module, and the FM piece (if there is one) usually has its own antenna input. The WiFi + BT side share a different frequency band and use their own antenna connection.
I can get FM broadcasts on my Note 8.
You have to download an FM tuner app from the Play store, but it works.
I like the NextRadio app.
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The chips used in the iPhone do support FM radio. (All Qualcomm chips anyway)
The issue is Apple most likely never wired it up. So enabling it would be pointless.
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Hey, Tim Cook, why don't you tell us all the real reason why Apple refuses to activate the FM chip that is in most all of your older phones? Tim? Tim? Tim?
TV and radio are antiquated forms of communication, if he wants to be advocating anything it should be free internet.
See the post above...
kdarling said:
And note that Apple's own tweet says that module does not exist in the 7, 8 or X.
Qualcomm's own site for the X16 does not list FM as a capability, but there's no detailed data sheet or anything posted.
I read it.
Apple's PR person needs to read their own spec sheet.
They're using Qualcomm's X16 modem and WTR5975 transceiver. This means it can support FM radio IF it's wired up.
No info on the Intel radio.
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The X16, when paired with the WTR5976 transceiver, has FM capability.
The Note 8 has the same chips and it can receive FM radio signals.