KGI Expects Intel to Be Exclusive Supplier of Modems in 2018 iPhones

[gatearray]

Apple Launches Official Repair Program for iPhone 7 Models Affected by 'No Service' Issue


Intel Inside.

 

[recoil80]

I would prefer Apple find another modem supplier, not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket.

And as a customer I want the best possible components inside my product. I don't really care about legal disputes, Apple's been battling with Samsung for years and yet they are the only supplier for OLED, at least for iPhone X. If Intel is good enough I'm fine, but if they need to compromise on speed, energy consumption or reliability then I'd rather have Qualcomm, or both of them as suppliers.

 

[Septembersrain]

Apple is just going to get another Qualcomm on their hands. Intel will start charging more for their chips. Add in that Intel is inferior and has shown to have vulnerabilities.

It might really be my last iPhone, the 7 Plus. Well crap.

 

[Aenean144]

Apple is just going to get another Qualcomm on their hands. Intel will start charging more for their chips. Add in that Intel is inferior and has shown to have vulnerabilities.

It might really be my last iPhone, the 7 Plus. Well crap.

Like with the CPU, GPU, power management units, ISPs, it’s all but inevitable for Apple to have their own custom wireless networking built into the SoC. I think this is one of the big reasons they went on a lawsuit blitz with Qualcomm so as drive down the cost of IP to Qualcomm.

If they are successful with driving the costs of IP, it’ll also open the door for Apple, and other vendors, to use Samsung and Mediatek LTE chipset in the USA as well. So, there will be a lot of options even if Apple doesn’t go the custom route.

 

[jamesnajera]

I thought the latest issue with Qualcomm modems was that the newest modems made by Qualcomm are attached to the SoC, in other words Apple has no choice for buying just modems from Qualcomm. Qualcomm will still get there licensing fees, just from Intel.

 

[Aenean144]

So, I can’t help but wonder why the AT&T Intel based iPhones I got were competent and the 7 Plus and 8 Plus unlocked Qualcomm models I had were poor performers on AT&T. Was it just luck of the draw or is something else going on with whatever Apple did to try and make the models from two different manufacturers perform “equally”? Or is there some issue with unlocked iPhones not being optimized for AT&T?

You generally can’t pinpoint why this or that hardware is better than another in cellular network quality, especially across time. It could come down to something like you held the Plus models differently from the X model, or the particular band support between models at your location, or the particular set of towers - and what state they were in - you typically connect to.

For all intents and purposes, there shouldn’t be a difference in a population of users between Intel and QC modems in Apple handsets. If there are differences, it’s going to be specific to the user and their situation. So, all these testimonials are really just specific to the user. There are tens to hundreds of millions of Intel and QC modem iPhones in the wild. If there was an actual difference, we’d know.
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I thought the latest issue with Qualcomm modems was that the newest modems made by Qualcomm are attached to the SoC, in other words Apple has no choice for buying just modems from Qualcomm. Qualcomm will still get there licensing fees, just from Intel.

If an OEM, like Apple, buys a cellular modem and puts it into a phone they sell, they pay:

1. The cellular modem vendor for the agreed price for the modem chip
2. The IP holders for use of the patents that are attached to the modem chip, for the agreed fee

So, if Apple buys a modem chip from Intel, they pay Intel for the chip, Intel/Infineon for patents, Broadcom for patents, QC for patents, Nokia for patents, maybe whoever owns the Moto patents now, so on and so forth. Generally, it looks like Apple funnels the IP fees through the chip vendors they buy from.

From what we are hearing from Apple, they pay QC a patent fee based on a percentage of the whole cost of a device for cellular network functionality. The higher the price of the phone, the more Apple pays QC in patent fees. So yes, they pay QC a patent fee for Intel modems. That’s typical practice. What they want is to reduce how much they pay, and they have a good case as it certainly isn’t fair for QC to get more money if the same modem is used in a $500 phone versus a $1000 phone. QC obviously thinks it is fair.

 

[matthewv1227]

Apple Launches Official Repair Program for iPhone 7 Models Affected by 'No Service' Issue


Intel Inside.

Those are models with a Qualcomm modem.

 

[jamesrick80]

If this is true, it makes up for any Intel losses in the near future. Intel is lucky but I would always prefer a Qualcomm modem over intel. It has always been proven to be more efficient and faster in some situations.