iPhone 13 Lineup Expected to Use Qualcomm's Snapdragon X60 Modem With Several 5G Improvements

[JulianL]

Does the Qualcomm X60 (or X55 or X65 for that matter) also implement the 4G modem functionality as well?

I was worried about battery life when I upgraded from my 11 Pro Max to the 12 Pro Max because the battery capacity had been reduced vs the previous years’ equivalents but I always knew I was going to keep my phone locked to 4G and having done that I’m actually really happy with the battery life on my 12 Pro Max but I’m greedy and will always take more. I’m hoping that the answer to my question above is yes in which case the move to 5nm and presumably some architecture optimisations in the X60 vs X55 might also give me even more battery life if/when I get this year’s Pro Max as long as I keep it locked to 4G (which I will because I’ve never once felt the need for more data speed or better call quality on my 12 Pro Max).

This is all good stuff. I’m quite excited about this year’s model as long as Apple doesn’t pull some unexpected nasty surprise. The worst bad surprise Apple could spring on me would be a further reduction in battery size/capacity but with 120Hz refresh rumoured, and rumours that the thickness of the Pro models might even increase very slightly this year, I think that’s highly unlikely to happen and we might even gat a modest bump in battery capacity this year, maybe back to the capacities in the 11 Pro and Pro Max which would be great and anything above that would be really great. I will be quite surprised if I don’t end up upgrading again this year.

 

[MacStreamer]

Verizon was the largest bidder.​

Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile Won Big at FCC 5G Auction

The FCC has finally revealed the winners of its mid-band spectrum auction, and Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile came out on top.

www.webpronews.com

 

[thebeans]

Apple's next-generation iPhone 13 lineup will use Qualcomm's Snapdragon X60 5G modem, with Samsung to handle manufacturing of the chip, according to DigiTimes.

Built on a 5nm process, the X60 packs higher power efficiency into a smaller footprint compared to the 7nm-based Snapdragon X55 modem used in iPhone 12 models, which could contribute to longer battery life. With the X60 modem, iPhone 13 models would also be able to aggregate 5G data from both mmWave and sub-6GHz bands simultaneously to achieve an optimal combination of high-speed and low-latency network coverage.

mmWave is a set of 5G frequencies that promise ultra-fast speeds at short distances, making it best suited for dense urban areas. By comparison, sub-6GHz 5G is generally slower than mmWave, but the signals travel further, better serving suburban and rural areas. mmWave support on iPhone 12 models is limited to the United States, but rumors suggest that iPhone 13 models may support mmWave in additional countries.

In 2019, Apple and Qualcomm settled a legal battle and reached a multiyear chipset supply agreement, paving the way for Apple to use Qualcomm's 5G modems. A court document from the settlement revealed that Apple would likely use the X60 modem for 2021 iPhones, followed by the recently announced Snapdragon X65 modem in 2022 iPhones.

The X65 is the world's first 10 Gigabit 5G modem and antenna system for smartphones, enabling theoretical data speeds up to 10 gigabits per second. While real-world download speeds will certainly be slower than that, the X65 has many other benefits, including improved power efficiency, enhanced coverage for both mmWave and sub-6 GHz bands, and support for all global commercialized mmWave frequencies.

Starting in 2023, Apple is expected to start using its own in-house 5G modems for iPhones.

Article Link: iPhone 13 Lineup Expected to Use Qualcomm's Snapdragon X60 Modem With Several 5G Improvements

They need to worry about overall modem performance. My 12 has the worst cell signal performance in weak area of any iPhone I’ve had. Places inside buildings where I used to have a weak but useable signal are now no service. Otherwise the 12 is my favorite of all but they need to make it work better on marginal signal areas.

 

[thebeans]

Not sure what I’d need to download at 5Gbps to my cell, let alone 10Gbps. Rural area with cell coverage as your home hotspot I’d imagine a great use-case, but given how quickly you’d hit that data cap ... Starlink can’t spin up fast enough.

STARLINK is really cool. We installed 45 of their dishes in our area last month. It is a fascinating system and is super, super easy to set up. We were seeing download speeds in the 75-90 range with a few well over 100.

 

[westislander]

Probably similar battery life as the 12 mini after the always on display and 120hz battery hit.

The 120hz screens might only show up on the Pros

 

[Zorori]

Me too.

I bought a Mini for my wife because she needed a new phone, but I waited because my XR still works. However, I would have bought the 12 Mini if battery life was a bit better.

Geez, is this battery life fallacy neverending?

In tests, the Mini matches the XR -- or the XR wins by a single minute over 6 hours of high battery drain tasks (4k video, gaming, etc). Given that your device is not touting a 100% health battery (well unlikely) a mini would have better battery life.

Skip to 12:15 for the results:

iPhone 12 Mini 6 hours 16 minutes, iPhone XR 6 hours 17 minutes.

 

[Yuck9]

It’s not the modem, it’s your carrier. It sounds like you probably have Verizon. Their only true 5G is their UWB network which is very sparse, their nationwide 5G is just sharing spectrum with their LTE network. AT&T is pretty much the same story. The only carrier that’s serious about widespread, dedicated 5G, is t-mobile. As LTE gets phased out at AT&T and Verizon in the coming years, expect those frequencies to be freed up for dedicated 5G and speeds to improve.

T-mobile 5G is a joke in my area. Says I'm in 5G yet I'm lucky to get 50mb down where both AT&T and Verizon get 225-250 down.