iPhone 8 Teardowns Reveal Advanced Modems Likely Selected for Power Improvements

[Stuey3D]

For me it’s not headline speed that matters as none of our networks come close to maxing either modem out in terms of speed.

The real question is which of the 2 is better at holding on to that last scrap of 4G signal when you are right on the edge of the range and which modem can extract the most speed out of that tiny scrap of signal.

 

[DaveOP]

It's not about maxing out the modem. Most users are operating under weak to moderate signal conditions in buildings or underground.

The situation is similar to 802.11ac. The goal is get 100Mbps throughput under real world conditions, not the 1.3Gbps marketing spec.

Is there evidence that the Qualcomm modem gets better speeds at lower db in these situations?

 

[maverick22]

So will either of the new modems in the 8 help Tmobile's weak building penetration?That would give me reason to stay with them. If so which would be better- Intel or Qualcomm? Thanks

 

[JPack]

Is there evidence that the Qualcomm modem gets better speeds at lower db in these situations?

The Cellular Insights report from last year for the iPhone 7 showed an appreciable difference between the two.

 

[predation]

Apple could make things easier on its customers and just go with one model, but instead they choose not to. I don’t like Qualcomm at all, but their modems seem to be better than the Intel modems.

Not seem. ARE.

even the Qualcomm chip was gimped to keep on par with the intel chip

 

[daveak]

"The Intel XMM 7480, by contrast, only has a maximum theoretical peak of 600 Mbps"

Most I've seen from my (not iPhone 8) phones is ~62Mbps. I don't care if the max theoretical is 600, 1000, or 6,000,000 if the network can't handle it it doesn't make a difference. By the time the network can handle 600 I'll have a different device.

 

[Steve.P.JobsFan]

So will either of the new modems in the 8 help Tmobile's weak building penetration?That would give me reason to stay with them. If so which would be better- Intel or Qualcomm? Thanks

No, neither do. Even if they did support Band 71, you still wouldn't notice an improvement unless you lived in Wyoming or Maine at the present moment.

600 MHz isn't going to be deployed across most of the United States until the end of the decade.

 

[QquegChristian]

Last year, Apple employee refused to sell me a Verizon model (on their installment plan) because I am on ATT, but am NOT under contract. At the time, I just wanted to leave my options open to switch carriers, so I wanted the more universal phone.

I can honestly say that my Intel iPhone 7 has had the worst signal strength of any cell phone I’ve ever used, going back to the days of Nokia candybar phones.

I have no service in any large store (Wal-Mart, Target, local grocery store). I am completely reliant on their WiFi now.

I get 1 dot/bar in my house and people complain that I’m cutting out until I go outside.

I live 15 minutes from Disney World, surrounded by vacation rental properties, it’s not like this is a rural area.

I just want to switch carriers at this point to hopefully get a decent signal, but I can’t switch to Verizon for the same reason I have such crappy reception in the first place.

Is this an official Apple policy? If I’m not on contract with any carrier, can I use Apple’s upgrade installment program to upgrade to the 8 by getting the Qualcomm (Verizon) model, but activate it on ATT? As I said, last time they insisted on activating in store and made me take an ATT phone.

 

[HiRez]

The squeeze on the iPhone X will be even worse, given Apple's claims of iPhone 8 Plus-like battery life in a non-Plus type form factor.

Wait, did they actually say that? What I remember from the keynote is Phil Schiller claiming it "lasts two hours longer than the iPhone 7". And at that time I thought hmm, suspicious that they compared it to "iPhone 7" and not "iPhone 7 Plus". My admittedly cynical and unscientific take on that was that the iPhone X battery would probably last for more time than an iPhone 7 but less time than an iPhone 7 Plus.

 

[isomorphic]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the long run, once Intel is able to switch their chip design to their own fab. It's possible Intel's modem will leap over Qualcomm's at some point in the future due to Intel's fab ability. (Of course this has nothing to do with the iPhone 8 or X...)

 

[Mo398]

Last year, Apple employee refused to sell me a Verizon model (on their installment plan) because I am on ATT, but am NOT under contract. At the time, I just wanted to leave my options open to switch carriers, so I wanted the more universal phone.

I can honestly say that my Intel iPhone 7 has had the worst signal strength of any cell phone I’ve ever used, going back to the days of Nokia candybar phones.

I have no service in any large store (Wal-Mart, Target, local grocery store). I am completely reliant on their WiFi now.

I get 1 dot/bar in my house and people complain that I’m cutting out until I go outside.

I live 15 minutes from Disney World, surrounded by vacation rental properties, it’s not like this is a rural area.

I just want to switch carriers at this point to hopefully get a decent signal, but I can’t switch to Verizon for the same reason I have such crappy reception in the first place.

Is this an official Apple policy? If I’m not on contract with any carrier, can I use Apple’s upgrade installment program to upgrade to the 8 by getting the Qualcomm (Verizon) model, but activate it on ATT? As I said, last time they insisted on activating in store and made me take an ATT phone.

I had the same issue, luckily I had a friend with me who had a Verizon iPhone. So we did the upgrade in my name with his phone number and then just took the SIM card out and put it back in his phone (right in front of the apple employe). They don't care, the employee said that the system will only let them finish the check out if its been activated for the intended network. Unless you shell out for the full price, at that point the system skips the activation.

 

[aka777]

Here we go again. Modem-gate.

"My modem is Intel! My 4G only runs at 99.9mbps and not 100mb like Qualcomm!!! Refund NOW!!" posts...

1gb/s peak to 600 is a significant difference. Not only do such speeds improve a user's experience but it also reduces battery drain. Not to mention, the qualcomm chipsets have better signal. Defending apple on this move is idiotic fanboism at its finest.

I'd much rather have the best wireless chipset than some marginally faster CPU, that I won't actually use. 4x4 MIMO and proper CA that the Qualcomm supports provides a significant improvement in wireless coverage and speed.
[doublepost=1506456999][/doublepost]

If you want better hardware go Samsung, if you want a better experience go iPhone.

It's actually not a better experience when in fringe coverage or when using data. They still don't offer wireless features that Samsung has offered since Apr 16.

 

[magbarn]

Last year, Apple employee refused to sell me a Verizon model (on their installment plan) because I am on ATT, but am NOT under contract. At the time, I just wanted to leave my options open to switch carriers, so I wanted the more universal phone.

I can honestly say that my Intel iPhone 7 has had the worst signal strength of any cell phone I’ve ever used, going back to the days of Nokia candybar phones.

I have no service in any large store (Wal-Mart, Target, local grocery store). I am completely reliant on their WiFi now.

I get 1 dot/bar in my house and people complain that I’m cutting out until I go outside.

I live 15 minutes from Disney World, surrounded by vacation rental properties, it’s not like this is a rural area.

I just want to switch carriers at this point to hopefully get a decent signal, but I can’t switch to Verizon for the same reason I have such crappy reception in the first place.

Is this an official Apple policy? If I’m not on contract with any carrier, can I use Apple’s upgrade installment program to upgrade to the 8 by getting the Qualcomm (Verizon) model, but activate it on ATT? As I said, last time they insisted on activating in store and made me take an ATT phone.

My experience echoes yours. This time around I went with the unlocked sim-free which has the superior Qualcomm modem. (I know as it supports CDMA which Intel doesn't). My wife, who's stuck on ATT NEXT program went with the default Intel ATT model. I know it's anecdotal only, but in rural areas around here, her Intel 8+ will more readily drop to 4G reception to maintain signal, whilst my sim-free 8+ is still chugging around 1-2 bars on LTE. The max speeds near towers are about the same though so urban users might not notice the difference as much.

Sadly, for X buyers, if you're on ATT/TMO you're stuck with Intel as no sim-free model on release...

 

[miniyou64]

Wasn’t it a big deal with like the 4S or “the New iPad” when Apple made it so that all the components for all networks were included on the same device? Why are they still manufacturing multiple configurations?

 

[ViDeOmAnCiNi]

dammit Apple. QC > Intel. Why can't you see that? I'm sure cost is the same.

sigh

 

[hxlover904]

I had the same issue, luckily I had a friend with me who had a Verizon iPhone. So we did the upgrade in my name with his phone number and then just took the SIM card out and put it back in his phone (right in front of the apple employe). They don't care, the employee said that the system will only let them finish the check out if its been activated for the intended network. Unless you shell out for the full price, at that point the system skips the activation.

So did this help your signal strength at all?

 

[BFG86]

So the qualcomm model supports the new t-mobile spectrum, but the t-mobile phone has the intel model. seems logical.

Don't really understand the 2 models why not just use the same for all.

then again there's the whole apple qualcomm thing

 

[FrozenDarkness]

So the qualcomm model supports the new t-mobile spectrum, but the t-mobile phone has the intel model. seems logical.

Don't really understand the 2 models why not just use the same for all.

then again there's the whole apple qualcomm thing

ti's quite straightforward.

apple and qualcomm are in a legal dispute. qualcomm wants apple to pay a percentage of hte iphone sale price and apple is like that doesn't make any sense. apple stopped all payments to qualcomm until this issue is resolved.

it makes sense for apple to limit the amount of qualcomm iphone sold to limit the damage of an eventual payment after the legal dispute.

i personally think it's stupid that qualcomm charges a % instead of a flat price for their modems so I'm on apple's side on this one.

 

[ScottC7]

My experience echoes yours. This time around I went with the unlocked sim-free which has the superior Qualcomm modem. (I know as it supports CDMA which Intel doesn't). My wife, who's stuck on ATT NEXT program went with the default Intel ATT model. I know it's anecdotal only, but in rural areas around here, her Intel 8+ will more readily drop to 4G reception to maintain signal, whilst my sim-free 8+ is still chugging around 1-2 bars on LTE. The max speeds near towers are about the same though so urban users might not notice the difference as much.

Sadly, for X buyers, if you're on ATT/TMO you're stuck with Intel as no sim-free model on release...

That seems like a smart idea to me. I live in the Baltimore/Washington DC Metro area and have been with AT&T since 2010. My iPhone 7 Plus consistently dropped all phone calls at one location on my drive home; I haven't had that problem since the iPhone 3GS. I'm on the IUP and just picked up the 8 Plus. I'm hoping it's better, but if not, perhaps the thing to do next year is to buy an unlocked SIM-free one, as you did. I'll have to go off the IUP but it may be worth it.

 

[Itsdev]

For those wanting a ‘universal’ phone in the US, Best Buy only sells ‘universal’ iPhones if you purchase the iPhone 6s, 7/7+ and 8/8+ - they don’t come with SIM cards in the box and Best Buy will install an AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon SIM if you put it on a carrier installment plan.

 

[lazard]

ehh..the intel modem capped at 60Mhz CA vs 80MHz for Qualcomm...quite a pity

 

[maverick22]

For those wanting a ‘universal’ phone in the US, Best Buy only sells ‘universal’ iPhones if you purchase the iPhone 6s, 7/7+ and 8/8+ - they don’t come with SIM cards in the box and Best Buy will install an AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon SIM if you put it on a carrier installment plan.

This confuses me. So do they start out like the "sim free" version from Apple, but if you buy one on installments (with a Carrier) then they lock to that carrier? Does this mean they only sell the Qualcomm version?

If so I assume once it's paid off you could, for example, use one that was on AT&T on Verizon if you wanted?

 

[Timeternity]

My experience echoes yours. This time around I went with the unlocked sim-free which has the superior Qualcomm modem. (I know as it supports CDMA which Intel doesn't). My wife, who's stuck on ATT NEXT program went with the default Intel ATT model. I know it's anecdotal only, but in rural areas around here, her Intel 8+ will more readily drop to 4G reception to maintain signal, whilst my sim-free 8+ is still chugging around 1-2 bars on LTE. The max speeds near towers are about the same though so urban users might not notice the difference as much.

Sadly, for X buyers, if you're on ATT/TMO you're stuck with Intel as no sim-free model on release...

Could I confirm that you and your wife both are using ATT carrier ?

 

[jpcarro]

My experience echoes yours. This time around I went with the unlocked sim-free which has the superior Qualcomm modem. (I know as it supports CDMA which Intel doesn't). My wife, who's stuck on ATT NEXT program went with the default Intel ATT model. I know it's anecdotal only, but in rural areas around here, her Intel 8+ will more readily drop to 4G reception to maintain signal, whilst my sim-free 8+ is still chugging around 1-2 bars on LTE. The max speeds near towers are about the same though so urban users might not notice the difference as much.

Sadly, for X buyers, if you're on ATT/TMO you're stuck with Intel as no sim-free model on release...

I'm on ATT and picked-up a sim-free 8. I now have 1 bar more (new iOS 11 4-bar display) than my previous GSM-only iP7. This is the case everywhere in my house. Where I had 1-bar, I now have 2-bars...where 2, now 3. I thought maybe the iP8 glass back allowed more signal thru, but forgot about the Qualcomm/Intel difference.

 

[Tec972]

Last year, Apple employee refused to sell me a Verizon model (on their installment plan) because I am on ATT, but am NOT under contract. At the time, I just wanted to leave my options open to switch carriers, so I wanted the more universal phone.

I can honestly say that my Intel iPhone 7 has had the worst signal strength of any cell phone I’ve ever used, going back to the days of Nokia candybar phones.

I have no service in any large store (Wal-Mart, Target, local grocery store). I am completely reliant on their WiFi now.

I get 1 dot/bar in my house and people complain that I’m cutting out until I go outside.

I live 15 minutes from Disney World, surrounded by vacation rental properties, it’s not like this is a rural area.

I just want to switch carriers at this point to hopefully get a decent signal, but I can’t switch to Verizon for the same reason I have such crappy reception in the first place.

Is this an official Apple policy? If I’m not on contract with any carrier, can I use Apple’s upgrade installment program to upgrade to the 8 by getting the Qualcomm (Verizon) model, but activate it on ATT? As I said, last time they insisted on activating in store and made me take an ATT phone.

I completely agree with you on this issue. I have an iPhone 7+ and noticed as soon as I got that phone that cell reception was not on par with my previous phones. It is disappointing since I did NOT want that intel chip in my phone. Had I known at the time I could have gotten a SIM free and the Qualcomm I would have done that.