Report: Apple to Use Qualcomm's X55 5G Modem in All Three 2020 iPhones

[Glockworkorange]

I think it is the notch going. It is a three year circle for a major re-design, so I guess notch is going.
USB Type C
No notch
90hz or 120hz display refresh rate.
Qualcomm modem.
Starting with 120 GB storage.
Battery life just as good as iPhone 11 Pro Max or even better.
Take my money.

I don’t think we’ll get USB C. MOST people buying an iPhone don’t care about the connector and if the one they upgrade to doesn’t use the same port as the last one they had, they will be pissed. THOSE are the people Apple cares about; not the people on this forum.

Unless USBC on a phone offers something iPhone customers can’t get from lightning, forget it.

 

[gotluck]

Why hello there, my next iPhone

 

[currentinterest]

It will be interesting to see how Apple differentiates the 5.4 and 6.7 inch Pro models from the 6.1 inch iPhone 12 model since all will have the A14, OLED, and 5G. The iPhone classic introduced in March will be easily differentiated A13, LCD, LTE, and TouchID.

 

[alpi123]

Why can't Apple offer standard screen sizes that cater to all?

I think 5.0, 5.5 and 6.5-inch with a notchless 18:9 aspect ratio should suffice, even if the bezels are a bit thicker like that of an iPad Pro.

Screen size doesn't directly determine phone size. The 11 Pro Max and 8 Plus are the same physical size, but the 11 has got a larger display. If this claim is true, then the standard 11 will shrink its displays from 5.8" to 5.4", but we don't know if the bezels will stay the same (thus showing how big the physical size of the phone could be)

 

[bigjnyc]

omg I can't wait! and I don't even care about 5G, I just need a non-intel modem.... It is absolutely horrible in my XS Max.. I hate it so much.
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6.7-inch makes it seem like they are getting rid of the notch. Unless they are going to keep the notch and make the device taller or wider.

I don't think the notch makes a difference in the size apple gives... They measure from corner to corner so the notch is not taken in to account.

 

[citysnaps]

I’m going to sound like a tin foil hat person by asking this, but: are all these 5G health risks I’m reading about really unknown or is that just paranoia?

If there’s even a 1% chance they’re true, I’d love to be able to disable 5G via software.

It's like a Certs being both a breath mint and a candy mint. In other words, with respect to 5G, unknown health risks and a lot of paranoia.

 

[PickUrPoison]

A new report, out of my living room calls this report a load of rubbish.

Apple ships about 70M handsets in the September to December quarter each year. So this estimate is suggesting Apple will ONLY sell 5G models during that quarter.

We’re in Apple’s 2020 year right now, which ends 30 Sep 2020. It seems like they’re referring to the 1 Oct 2020 - 30 Sep 2021 year, since that’s when the 5G models will be sold.

 

[zorinlynx]

I’m going to sound like a tin foil hat person by asking this, but: are all these 5G health risks I’m reading about really unknown or is that just paranoia?

If there’s even a 1% chance they’re true, I’d love to be able to disable 5G via software.

It's pretty much paranoia.

Radio waves are non-ionizing. They do not affect matter other than to heat it up a small amount when they get absorbed, and the amount of energy a cellphone transmits isn't even enough to do that noticeably.

There have been several cases of people claiming a cell tower was making them ill when it hadn't even been turned on yet. The human body and mind are really good at convincing you that you are sick when you're really not, and some people are a lot more susceptible to this than others.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Qualcomm X55 modem is already in Samsung Galaxy Note 10 5G variant, not a great modem for Global 5G networks, I do Not know how apple will incorporate X55 into unlocked phones. I hope apple and Qualcomm will come up with something other than X55.

No, the Note 10 5G uses the X50—the first gen battery hog that Apple passed on. The X55 won’t be released until sometime next year.

 

[deconstruct60]

Qualcomm X55 modem is already in Samsung Galaxy Note 10 5G variant, not a great modem for Global 5G networks, I do Not know how apple will incorporate X55 into unlocked phones.

Putting the X55 into a locked phone isn't particularly any different than putting the X55 into an unlocked one. The only thing locking the phone is some "firmware" settings which Apple should be able to manages at the scale and scope of the phones they sell now.

Tuning and validating the phone in multiple geographic regions is a bigger issue than whether it is locked/unlocked. (that the antennas (and RF subsystem(s) ) all work in varying frequencies well with different equipment with different settings and that modem can have various features turned off/on appropriately.

I hope apple and Qualcomm will come up with something other than X55.

It looks like Qualcomm is using Samsung's 7nm LPP EUV process for the X55. I suspect there may be a chance that Qualcomm could have a package compatible 'X55+' or 'X56' that was just a 5nm LPE shrink of that to lower the power requirements by earlier 2020. So Apple could be running test mules with the X55 now and drop in a shrink for power usage in second half of 2020.

Apple doing their own in 2020-2021? Relatively low chances of that. Samsung started sampling 5nm LPE in April (https://www.anandtech.com/show/14231/samsung-completes-development-of-5-nm-euv-process-technology). It should be in volume by Q2-Q3 2020 which would be in time for Apple's Fall iPhones. If Qualcomm isn't aggressive of adding features ( just fix quirks and shoot for lower power) then that probably would be the better pick for Apple. I doubt Apple would pass up lower power if it was relatively low risk to get there.

If Qualcomm is trying to push the features , significantly change the packaging , etc. ( bigger gap in validation) then Apple probably would go conservative and take the X55 ( implementation issues and quirks should be extremely well know by that since basically on year 2 of usage).

 

[Drogba11]

I joined the upgrade program this year and switched from an X Qualcomm model (A1865) to the 11 Pro Max (Intel). I work in Manhattan and live in NJ and I have not noticed any degradation at all in low signal areas (of which there are plenty at my office and commute) between the 2 phones. I would even go as far as saying the Intel modem in this years flagship has been slightly better than the last iPhone Qualcomm chip. There are areas on my train ride I would get literally zero signal with my X but my Pro Max seems to be able to still be capable of browsing the web in those spots. I will however be upgrading next year, that was the whole point of joining IUP.

 

[itsmilo]

If all 3 iPhones are getting Oled and 5g, it's going to be rather confusing what size iPhone to get.

It already is. Explaining to my boss and family why the iPhone 11 is bigger but cheaper than the regular iPhone 11 Pro ended nowhere.

„So there is the iPhone 11 entry model, which is cheaper than the iPhone 11 Pro yet the screen is bigger.“

- so why should I get the iPhone Pro then? Maybe I should get the iPhone „X“ instead?

„Nono that is also smaller than the iPhone 11 but more expensive than the iPhone XR was, which is also
bigger than the iPhone 11 Pro.

- ???

- by the way ... what is the difference between the iPad and the iPad Air?

„sooooo this pen works only on the iPad Pro but not the 10.5 iPad Pro and the other Pen works on the iPad and iPad Air“

😫

 

[Mike82]

It already is. Explaining to my boss and family why the iPhone 11 is bigger but cheaper than the regular iPhone 11 Pro ended nowhere.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the regular 12 has the same notch as the 11 models and both 12 Pro’s have a smaller or no notch.

 

[iZollo]

I still want my 5.8 screen size I think the 5.4 screen size might be to small and 6.1inch to big for my liking.

 

[deconstruct60]

....
The X55 is also more power efficient than Qualcomm's X50 chip, which means it will draw less energy and will have less of an impact on battery life when connected to a 5G network.

A shrink of the X55 5nm would easily be even more power efficient.

"...There’s info circulating on Twitter that there will be two versions of the Snapdragon 865 – standard and one with a X55 5G modem. .."

Samsung will be fabbing the Snapdragon 865 chipset

Qualcomm reportedly believes that Samsung's 7nm EUV process has advantages over TSMC's 7nm node. Samsung 7nm EUV foundry scored several major contracts. A...

www.gsmarena.com

Qualcomm could do a shrink of the X55 in 1H 2020 onto Samsunng's 5nm LPE process. That would get them power savings that Apple may strongly want. ( don't add much to the X55 and crank out a version with even lower power).

If a drop-in replacement package of the X55 then Apple could do some validate work now. Then switch over to samples early next year that have the power saving bump and hit volume production in late 1H 2020.

Not sure why Qualcomm would wait a long time to jump onto a better power saving process for the X55 .... the issue with X50 to X55 is still an versus next iteration. Also Qualcomm has to stay at the top of their game to delay the switch over to Apple modems for as long as they can. Qualcomm squatting on a process improvement makes even less sense in that context. Toss Apple 2 year old tech is only going to make them switch over faster.

 

[realtuner]

Waaaait a second. If Apple adds 5G to the next iPhone then what will people have to complain about?

nvm

 

[nwcs]

I’m going to sound like a tin foil hat person by asking this, but: are all these 5G health risks I’m reading about really unknown or is that just paranoia?

If there’s even a 1% chance they’re true, I’d love to be able to disable 5G via software.

Some of it is just tin foil but the truth is no industry is above shenanigans and as we’ve seen reported the energy levels of these cell signals can be higher than you think. Most likely it won’t have any verifiable and identifiable issues but it takes a lot of time and research to truly see if there is an effect.

 

[827538]

Very excited about this and was expected, X55 is worth waiting for - not for 5G which I couldn't care less about but everything else that makes this an exceptional modem.

 

[cocky jeremy]

6.7-inch makes it seem like they are getting rid of the notch. Unless they are going to keep the notch and make the device taller or wider.

Nope. Smaller bezels. The notch doesn't affect diagonal measurements.

Why can't Apple offer standard screen sizes that cater to all?

I think 5.0, 5.5 and 6.5-inch with a notchless 18:9 aspect ratio should suffice, even if the bezels are a bit thicker like that of an iPad Pro.

Because they don't have to. People are buying them like crazy as is.

 

[Baymowe335]

A new report, out of my living room calls this report a load of rubbish.

Apple ships about 70M handsets in the September to December quarter each year. So this estimate is suggesting Apple will ONLY sell 5G models during that quarter.

The 5G phone will likely only be available for <4 months next year.

 

[archer75]

Waaaait a second. If Apple adds 5G to the next iPhone then what will people have to complain about?

nvm

Don't worry. They'll find something.

 

[nfl46]

Huh? Getting rid of the notch doesn't get you bigger diagonal screen.

Thank you for the correction.

 

[kaycrystal626]

I am ready for 5G!

 

[newyorksole]

I think it is the notch going. It is a three year circle for a major re-design, so I guess notch is going.
USB Type C
No notch
90hz or 120hz display refresh rate.
Qualcomm modem.
Starting with 120 GB storage.
Battery life just as good as iPhone 11 Pro Max or even better.
Take my money.

Mannn. Every year the iPhone gets better, but next year? If the majority of that comes true. Jeeeeez.

I think some of those things are a given, but some are up in the air.

 

[Wags]

I want 5G capability but not expecting to be mainstream and who knows what the carriers think they can charge extra for it.