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Is it a rumor after a publicly announced 6 year deal with Qualcomm?
As mentioned in this thread already, the Samsung part can be considered news. It was speculated before, but this is the first time someone like Ming Chi Kuo is flat out stating Samsung is a supplier.

Anyhow, I'm prepared to wait until 2020. I have an iPhone 7 Plus which will be 4 years old by then, but its camera is fine and the performance is fine too, plus I got a new battery in December which is currently still at 100% capacity. I don't feel any great need to upgrade this year, especially given Apple's ridiculous pricing of late. I don't want to pay for a storage upgrade to 256 GB that I don't need, so it'd be nice if Apple upgrades the base model to 128 GB soon. 2020 would be perfect. Or else they could do the XR thing and offer an inexpensive upgrade tier to 128 GB (from the entry level 64 GB). I'm not optimistic for either option, but if the 2019 models without 5G still come with 64 base with only an upgrade option to 256 or higher for tons of money, I'm not buying in 2019.
 
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I like to upgrade every two years and Fall 2019 would be the end of that cycle for me. Since it seems most people are more excited about the 2020 iPhone maybe I'll just wait another year.
 
Has Apple not learned from dual-sourcing their modems? Some people don’t want the inferior modems, they want Qualcomm. I know I’d rather have theirs than anyone else’s.
And that's the definition of anecdotal. If you polled 100,000 people, how many do you think would know what modem is in their iPhone?
 
And that's the definition of anecdotal. If you polled 100,000 people, how many do you think would know what modem is in their iPhone?
Yes, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t know. I bet if they did know and could choose which one, they wouldn’t choose the inferior one. And that’s my point.
 
5G on a phone is overkill, especially if you're on a contract with data limits anyway. I'm most interested in how 5G can replace wired home connections and allow more connected devices in general.

Good point, I would be more interested in that also. No rush for me though as I am pretty content.
 
Yes, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t know. I bet if they did know and could choose which one, they wouldn’t choose the inferior one. And that’s my point.
The point is people in general don't know and most people really don't care. History already tells us that.

5G on a phone is overkill, especially if you're on a contract with data limits anyway. I'm most interested in how 5G can replace wired home connections and allow more connected devices in general.
Interestingly, that's exactly what people said about LTE before the iPhone got LTE.

In my case I do tether my iPad and MacBook to my phone. I have a data limit, but it's sufficient for this purpose. I have 13 GB per month, as well as an additional 5 free hours per month of unlimited data.
 
Yes, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t know. I bet if they did know and could choose which one, they wouldn’t choose the inferior one. And that’s my point.
I think the Intel/QCOM modem debate is largely speculative and incremental if there are even noticeable differences.

We don't have reliable data showing one outperforms the other consistently, hugely, and/or in all scenarios. Very difficult to measure without being anecdotal.
 
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So basically, there will be almost no reason for people to get an iPhone XI this year.

Good thing I replaced my iPhone 7 Plus battery back in December for $29.99. Going to ride this until 2020. :cool:
 
I also have news: 2020 iPhones will have a screen and will come in several different colors. I'm already all hyped up about this news !
 
How can Kuo know this is gonna make sales of iPhones increase when I am not even planning to upgrade? I see so much Touch ID iPhones out there, its obvious users are content with their devices.

Mobile networks getting super faster are not major selling point unless you are Steve Urkle and I am sure Steve Urkle is at work on a fast network. Sure, the bus trip from work to home or Ubering is not gonna be the end of the world on LTE either.

I'm happy that Apple will at least have a 5G product though, because it started feel like they were going to become the laughing stock the industry if they did not. I think Apples worst enemy right now, is itself. Users are not upgrading as they use to. Possibly those on 6s, remaining 6 and some iPhone 7's are likely gonna take the plunge to Face ID. That will be a lot not to mention the switchers. After 2020, its gonna be a scary period for Apple.
 
If true, Kuo just blew a huge hole in the theory that Apple came crawling back to Qualcomm on its knees and was forced to settle in order to have 5G in 2020.

That said, it doesn’t really make sense that Apple would add Samsung as a modem supplier. 1) The whole point of dual sourcing is to reduce supply risk and gain pricing leverage. Neither should be necessary since Apple just negotiated a multi-year supply agreement. TSMC will have no issue cranking out the necessary quantity. 2) To get the reported $8-9 royalty rate for Qualcomm’s baseband chips—cheaper than the $7.50 Apple was paying for 3G modems in the 2007-2011 timeframe, and certainly no more than the 4G modems in the 2013 agreement, Qualcomm would have wanted exclusivity. 3) Samsung had been playing hard to get, recently claiming they couldn’t sell their 5G modems to Apple because they were unable to manufacture sufficient quantity. 4) Apple is making their own baseband chip, why would they bother second sourcing them for the short period of time they’ll need to rely on anyone else at all?

Exactly. The Apple haters/naysayers are looking for anything to make Apple look like the bad guy or that they lost/caved in. There’s no logic to their reasoning other than....because Apple.

Qualcomm actually wanted $13 (3.25% royalty on a $400 capped device value) per iPhone. So if that $8-9 figure is true it’s actually a big discount (31-39%) compared to what Qualcomm was looking for.

Further, Apple and Qualcomm ceased all lawsuits. So it makes sense that there are other non-essential patents included in that licensing agreement.

Yet we have people throwing around an old $7.50 figure so they can claim Apple lost by supposedly paying more ($8-9).
 
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So basically, there will be almost no reason for people to get an iPhone XI this year.
I think this is the reason Apple is putting three cameras in the iPhone this year. That would push a lot of people to buy IMO.

Good thing I replaced my iPhone 7 Plus battery back in December for $29.99. Going to ride this until 2020. :cool:
Yup. Plus the 7 Plus has a higher pixel density than the XR, has dual cameras (one more than the XR), and has 3 GB RAM (same as the XR). The mainstream iPads didn't even get 3 GB until 2019. The 7 Plus had 3 GB RAM 3 years ago.
 
Surprised anyone would do business with Apple after they've thrown so many suppliers under the bus.
 
A lot of marketing is required to get consumers excited about 5G. When I am in a LTE network, everything is super fast. Safari, Streaming, everything.

If 5G were to offer more range, I would be excited, but higher peak speeds, not so much.
 
I can tell you that if you don't live in a major metro area, 5G won't be necessary for a good couple years. There are times we still will get a 3G signal even today, and we aren't exactly a tiny city.
 
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We can't even properly utilize 4K TVs for broadcasted TV...It's still freaking 1080i. 5G is going to be years before it's even useful consistently.
Agreed. I see these insane speed tests from people who are getting 150+ Mbps down and up on AT&T and Verizon’s LTE networks all the time. Meanwhile, I can’t get above 30 Mbps down/2 Mbps up on LTE anywhere around the two-county area where I live, which has a population of nearly 2 million people.

I’d rather see the mobile providers invest in getting LTE reaching its full capabilities across their entire footprint before dumping billions into a 5G network that no one can even use and won’t even be available outside of a couple “select cities” until who knows when...probably 2024.
 
Agreed. I see these insane speed tests from people who are getting 150+ Mbps down and up on AT&T and Verizon’s LTE networks all the time. Meanwhile, I can’t get above 30 Mbps down/2 Mbps up on LTE anywhere around the two-county area where I live, which has a population of nearly 2 million people.

I’d rather see the mobile providers invest in getting LTE reaching its full capabilities across their entire footprint before dumping billions into a 5G network that no one can even use and won’t even be available outside of a couple “select cities” until who knows when...probably 2024.
Our population is over 8M and there are places within the city LTE isn't even available on ATT, lol. Other places, it's 3-5MB in the heart of the city. It's a joke.

Meanwhile, DirecTV still pushing that compressed 1080i with tons of artifacts...same with Uverse, Fios, Time Warner....total fail.

5G is just another speed marketing gimmick. We have WiFi for 90% of use cases anyway.
 
Typically around here, when new cellular tech comes out, those on the new tech get not only faster speeds but less congestion.

This has happened with the 2G to 3G transition and the 3G to 4G LTE transition. However, each time, when the standard becomes mainstream, it gets congested. 4G LTE isn't so bad, but in certain areas and at certain times I really notice the slowdowns. Hopefully with the 5G transition, we'll get a few years reprieve again until it gets saturated again. Plus the lower latency and faster uploads will be nice, at least when tethering.
 
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maybe you should move out of the sticks! lol
Indeed. My carrier (Rogers/Fido) is already testing 5G in my city (Toronto), and the true rollout is planned for late 2019 to 2020 (which is good timing for a 2020 iPhone).

Even if that were delayed for a year to 2021, I'd rather buy a phone with 5G capability in 2020 since I tend to keep my phones for several years. I am already in my third year with my 7 Plus, and will likely end up keeping it for a total of 4 years until I get a 2020 5G iPhone.
 
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