Something tells me that unless Intel can get their sh** together, the next iPhone will have Qualcomm modems across the board.
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iPhone 7 Plus Qualcomm LTE Modem Outperforms Intel LTE Modem by Significant Margin
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Does anyone know the reason why Apple decided to go with Intel for some of its modems? Was Qualcomm not able to meet demand? Intel costs less?
It seems odd that they would purposefully complicate their supply chain unless they had a VERY good reason.
It seems odd that they would purposefully complicate their supply chain unless they had a VERY good reason.
I've had my 7 Plus Matte Black Verizon 128GB for a month and it's pretty much perfect. The latest update definitely fixed my VZW service issues.
Phone is a champ. No case or screen protector either.
Phone is a champ. No case or screen protector either.
I have the intel modem (slower one), here is my speed test from this morning on the newest beta:
Can’t say i am disappointed.
Can’t say i am disappointed.
With the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus, Apple elected to use LTE modems from two different sources, Qualcomm and Intel. The A1778 and A1784 iPhone models use a GSM-only Intel XMM7360 modem while the A1660 and 1661 iPhone models use a GSM/CDMA-compatible Qualcomm MDM9645M modem.
Apple's decision has already caused some disappointment among customers because the GSM-only Intel modem is not compatible with as many carrier networks as the GSM/CDMA Qualcomm modem, and now independent testing conducted by Cellular Insights suggests there are some significant performance differences between the two modems, with the Qualcomm modem outperforming the Intel modem.
Using an R&S TS7124 RF Shielded Box, two R&S CMW500, one R&S CMWC controller, and four Vivaldi antennas, Cellular Insights created a setup to simulate LTE performance at different distances from a cellular tower using two iPhone 7 Plus devices, one with an Intel modem and one with a Qualcomm modem.
The goal of the test was to measure the highest achievable LTE throughput starting at a Reference Signal Received Quality of -85dBm (a strong signal) and gradually reducing the power level to simulate moving away from a cellular tower where signal is weaker. Three LTE bands were tested: Band 12, Band 4 (the most common band in North America), and Band 7.
In all three tests, both the iPhone 7 Plus models offered similar performance in ideal conditions, but as power levels decreased, Cellular Insights saw "unexplainable sharp dips in performance" in the Intel modem, finding a gap "north of 30%" in favor of the Qualcomm iPhone 7 Plus. In the charts, the Qualcomm modem maintains noticeably higher throughput speeds than the Intel modem as signal strength decreases.
In real world conditions, this would suggest the Qualcomm modem does better in areas where the cellular connection is weak, with faster throughput speeds. Cellular Insights describes the Band 12 test below:Cellular Insights also created a chart that compares the edge of cell performance of several different smartphones. The increasing numbers on the X-axis below represent increasingly poor signal strength, while on the Y-axis, a higher throughput number indicates better performance. The iPhone 7 Plus with an Intel modem demonstrates the poorest performance of all phones tested.
According to Cellular Insights, in every single test, the iPhone 7 Plus with a Qualcomm modem "had a significant performance edge" over the iPhone 7 Plus with an Intel modem.
For more information on the testing methodology and greater technical detail on the results, make sure to check out Cellular Insights' full comparison article.
Article Link: iPhone 7 Plus Qualcomm LTE Modem Outperforms Intel LTE Modem by Significant Margin
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Always has for me. Where I live and work, my Verizon LTE performance has been better than the other carriers.
Don't tell customers? The information is available and was available at the time of purchase. That's why many people have chosen to purchase the Verizon phone at retail and put an AT&T SIM in it. Do you want them to plaster a warning label all over the place? Is Intel charging Apple less than Qualcomm?
Sadly, this doesn't seem to be the case for everyone. Even after the recent cellular fix, I still don't quite get the same speeds I was getting on older phones.
I have an iPhone 7plus on T-Mobile and I live where the signal is between1-2 bars. Still getting 50mbs. Non-issue, but to sensitive folks, I can understand.
I kind of thought my LTE performance was slower than before, but I wasn't sure if it was in my head. I'm on AT&T so I imagine I have the intel modem, but just ran a Speedtest at work and got 3.3mbps down and .3 up lol. 2-3 bars at work, in a smallish office building right next to a window in an area that doesn't have tons of traffic (smallish suburb). Guess I'm glad I'm on wifi a lot?
This is a self fulfilling comment
Is it a fair assumption to say that all AT&T iPhones would be the Intel models? If you go in to the Apple Store, I do believe the phones that are compatible with Verizon and Sprint will work with AT&T but not the opposite.
Just curious, because in Canada I believe we'd only have the A1778 version, which would be Intel only.
Just curious, because in Canada I believe we'd only have the A1778 version, which would be Intel only.
I have the 7 and 6 plus beside each other. One has -102 dBm, the other -96dBm. Guess which is which...
This was my observation since the day I got it, probably got the wrong lottery ticket.
This was my observation since the day I got it, probably got the wrong lottery ticket.
I had a feeling this may be the case. Hasn't Qualcomm been working on cellular products for a lot longer than Intel?
Why are you just pulling random numbers from thin air?
Real-world usage could be worse or better. Too many variables as people have mentioned. The fact is that the Intel modem is weaker in a number of areas.
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Let's see the graph of Qualcomm chipset using more battery than the Intel chip.
Up here in Canada many places are one or two bars for me on my iphone 6 with Rogers network. Its still nice and fast until it gets to a certain point at which it basically won't load anything at all even though it says there is data
I heard the Qualcomm modems make the phones hiss
To make more money. I'm sure Intel gave Apple a super-sweet deal; Intel has been desperate to break into Apple's hardware ecosystem.
Anyone with an Intel LTE iPhone 7 with 32GB of memory is having a bad week.
This is hardly a non-story. 96% of the United States is rural, and will have signal strength poorer than -105dB, often poorer than -110dB (I've seen -116dB in lots of places). The better modem will be the difference between having data at all versus having no data under such circumstances.
INCORRECT! You are getting RSSI, the 2G/3G concept mixed up with RSRP, the LTE concept. Because LTE uses OFDMA, the phone does not demodulate the entire signal. Also, unlike 2G/3G, LTE carriers have different bandwidths, so RSSI would vary depending on the carrier.
Therefore, LTE uses a different method of measuring signal power. RSRP refers to the power of specific reference subcarriers in the signal, whereas RSSI refers to the power in the entire signal. As a result RSRP is much lower than RSSI.
In fact, -102 is a mid-level signal. It will show as full bars!
Read this: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/blog/1/entry-308-rssi-vs-rsrp-a-brief-lte-signal-strength-primer/
I'd be more interested to see if there is any measurable difference in power consumption across the two modems.