iPhone 16: Qualcomm's Latest 5G Modem May Be Limited to Pro Models

[JulianL]

Dumb questions - sorry, I don’t know anything about the modem market - but …

1 - For the last 2 or 3 years Qualcomm modem press releases tend to talk about 5G improvements. Do these chips, e.g. the X75 talked about here, also handle the 4G and even 3G functionality as well?

2 - If yes to (1) above then is Qualcomm still making year-on-year improvements in the 4G circuitry, in particular improvements in power efficiency, and only talks about 5G because that is the most watched stuff now and is where Qualcomm is still making the biggest headline-grabbing gains, or is the 4G implementation now pretty much fully mature as far as Qualcomm is concerned and left pretty much untouched from year to year hence Qualcomm really doesn’t have anything worthwhile to say about 4G improvements now?

3 - With the quite impressive sounding year-on-year improvements in 5G power efficiency that Qualcomm has claimed for at least the last 2 years are we likely to reach, or maybe have already reached, the point where 5G is actually more power efficient than 4G? Right now I always lock my new iPhones to 4G-only because that is way fast enough for me, and I do that because it is my understanding that it will give me better battery life between charges, but I’m wondering if/when my strategy might need to be revisited.

 

[pauloregan]

That’s why there is no SE. The iPhone is the new SE.

 

[LegendaryAced]

And as per usual mmWave will be available to US only.
No global mmWave, despite other countries like Japan or Australia supporting it.

 

[Lamborrari]

A new 5G Qualcomm modem used to be one of the consistent upgrades even the standard iPhone models would get every year along with the Pros. The entire 12 lineup had the X55, 13 lineup the X60, all 14s the X65 and all 15s the X70. Now they are keeping the X70 for the base and Plus while only giving the Pros the X75.

Hopefully it’s a simple cost cutting measure to keep the starting price the same at $799, more likely a differentiation measure to offer 5G Advanced on the Pros while making the base models wait another year. The true tell will be whether competitors like Samsung and Google can afford to offer 5G Advanced on their $800 phones in the coming year or if they too reserve the feature for their high-end models.

 

[podycust]

no surprise there... anything to get that upsell! the only reason the pro's exist is so apple can be lazy and just charge more!

 

[ELman]

This is going to be good. It has a "integrated AI tensor accelerator".

 

[jlc1978]

no surprise there... anything to get that upsell! the only reason the pro's exist is so apple can be lazy and just charge more!

Not really. Having different versions allows a company to better align with multiple customer needs. Some people only need a 15, others a pro. Each can buy one that meets their needs. If all Apple wanted to do was upsell there'd be no SE, 13 or 14 on sale.

 

[cocky jeremy]

So further differentiation of the Pro models, but at the same time, 5G is still not fully deployed in the US

If you don't have 5G still, you need to relocate to civilization. lol.

 

[cdsapplefan]

Im surprised Apple will not differentiate the A series Chips again for the 16 series. The iPhone 16 will use the same A18 chip across the whole lineup Pro and Non-Pro. Guess Tmsc greatly reduced the price cost of the A18 series Chip

 

[ksec]

Still using Qualcomm Modem in 2024 ? /s

 

[Gengar]

There's a bigger world beyond the US. Many countries are enjoying great 5G coverage and deserve to have a phone that can leverage it.

Qualcomm sure does have the modem market cornered! Are they the only real game in town? There's gotta be some decent competition out there.

Come on Apple. You can bring us a great modem!

The US has great 5G coverage via T-Mobile and AT&T. Verizon (the largest carrier) is the only one with a sparse 5G network.

 

[jz0309]

Are there more than a few countries with full 5G deployment? for how many of us will this model difference matter?

I don’t know, thing is, does it really matter if you get 500 vs 700 MBps speed? For today’s usage of social media it does not, imho. And downloading a 4K movie to an iPhone, really.

I am happily on a LTE plan still even though all our phones have 5G modems

 

[sw1tcher]

Apple has to cut costs somewhere to appease shareholders

This isn't about cutting costs. It's about making the Pro and Pro Max versions more appealing to (try to) get people to pay up for the higher end (and more profitable) units.

Car manufacturers have used this playbook for decades.

- more powerful engines being found on higher trimmed vehicles could be analogous to how the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus get the older and less powerful A16 chip while the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max get the brand new A17 Pro chip

- higher trimmed vehicles getting a feature like a moonroof could be analogous to how Pro and Pro Max iPhones get better cameras and zoom

- higher trimmed vehicles getting color-matching door handles and side mirrors could be analogous to iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max getting titanium trim body

- higher trimmed vehicles getting leather seats and larger sportier looking wheels and tires could be analogous to iPhone Pro and Pro Max getting ProMotion and Always On display

 

[jlc1978]

This isn't about cutting costs. It's about making the Pro and Pro Max versions more appealing to (try to) get people to pay up for the higher end (and more profitable) units.

If it was all about upselling Apple would not have the 13, 14, 14+ or SE, and probably only the 14 aand not the Plus to drive upgrades.

Car manufacturers have used this playbook for decades.

True, but that doesn’t mean others do the same thing.

 

[turbineseaplane]

"you're breaking up... are you on the low end iPhone?"

 

[davidf18]

Forget about 5G, we still have tons of dead zones that lack coverage altogether. My neighborhood just had 2 antennas installed, but by my house there's no service.

Is that true with all 3 cell companies: Verizon, AT&T, T-mobile? I've found that Verizon has the best coverage.

 

[dannyyankou]

Is that true with all 3 cell companies: Verizon, AT&T, T-mobile? I've found that Verizon has the best coverage.

Funny enough, Verizon has the worst coverage in my area. T-Mobile has the best coverage, so I switched to Metro. $25/month for unlimited data and free MLB.TV with T-Mobile Tuesdays. Hard to beat that.

 

[haunebu]

Tim is going to cheap out on the low end models, giving people a second-rate modem to save a few bucks. Shocker.

 

[Tagbert]

If you don't have 5G still, you need to relocate to civilization. lol.

It doesn’t seem as if any place has 100% coverage. Most countries are in the process of building out 5G.

5G coverage map worldwide - nPerf.com

Discover 5G coverage in the world: dynamic map using real-time on-the-field measurements from real users

www.nperf.com

 

[switz]

One can find a web site with all three (Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile) carrier's service maps. One needs to zoom in to see the difference at the local area because the big maps lack the details that we can actually see.

I have been with Verizon since 1988 and their coverage works for me where ever I travel. Due to a new lousy policy, I am cancelling all five of my commercial modem hot spot services with Verizon.

We are adding three new limited T-Moble hot spot services. There are also two new 1TB hot spot lines from T-Mobile and two new 1TB hot spot lines from Verizon from a third party reseller.

Verizon will have to limp along with just our three iPhones, three iPads and two Watches on our personal service.

Our Peplink commercial modems have just come out with the x62 modem chip which is probably it for a while as non-voice lines in mobile vehicle applications do not use the milli-meter bands.

 

[artjart]

They need to stop with this nonsense and revisit their logic. Just create 2 iPhones, that's it. Make one Pro the other Pro Max. What's the point of creating more and more models where you just cut down on features? If you want a cheaper model keep the old iPhone models and make them cheaper. Regular iPhone 15 is literally iPhone 12 Pro lol.

 

[SFjohn]

I could care less about 5G advanced. I just want to know if a WiFi 7 radio is coming to iPhone 16 pro. But WiFi 6E is really nice. 160 MHz of clean WiFi with need to worry about radar/dfs.

How much less could you care? 😉

 

[Clamjuice65]

Is that true with all 3 cell companies: Verizon, AT&T, T-mobile? I've found that Verizon has the best coverage.

No AT&T has the best available 5G coverage according to open signal . Also AT&T network is the most Robust out the other 2 😑

 

[Clamjuice65]

With the new Samsung Galaxy 24 soon coming out with the new Qualcomm X75 Modem . Will this modem receive better cell reception??

 

[jlc1978]

No AT&T has the best available 5G coverage according to open signal . Also AT&T network is the most Robust out the other 2 😑

According to Whistleout TMob has most coverage.