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iPhone 12 Pro x55 LTE vs intel modem
- Thread starter ilikewhey
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I was never a fan of intel modems and couldn’t wait for Apple to do away with them. I love my 11 Pro but man the speed boost alone makes LTE on the 12 Pro makes it tempting to upgrade.
My speeds suck now so I wonder what the difference will be if I upgraded.
My speeds suck now so I wonder what the difference will be if I upgraded.
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I have tried results are impressive :
~200 Mbps with my girlfriend's iPhone XS
~360 Mbps with my iPhone 12 in 4G only.
In real life I don't see any difference since 4G in insanely good in Paris. But it is still usefull when I'm traveling or go in small cities (less true given COVID ofc) !
But for those who lived in an area with low/medium 4G coverage this is very good news with direct benefit.
~200 Mbps with my girlfriend's iPhone XS
~360 Mbps with my iPhone 12 in 4G only.
In real life I don't see any difference since 4G in insanely good in Paris. But it is still usefull when I'm traveling or go in small cities (less true given COVID ofc) !
But for those who lived in an area with low/medium 4G coverage this is very good news with direct benefit.
It is day and night. I compared yesterday iPhone 11 PRO max and iPhone 12 Pro. With 12 I had one bar of stable data , where with 11 I had nothing. LTE speeds are faster with 12 Pro in average about 15-20%. So far I’m very happy with Qualcomm modem and wait to have 12 pro max.
I also drove in low-marginal signal zone and streamed stable 256Kb internet radio. With 11 Pro max it disconnected 4 times, with 12 Pro zero during my 10 minute test-drive.
Same plan Magenta Plus in both phones
Remark:
I tested with T-mobile network since it is much more easier to find dead zones compare to Att or Verizon in my area. Around 1/2 of my surroundings is not covered with so called “nation wide” N71 600MHz 5G. For now I call it “nation de-wide coverage”
I also drove in low-marginal signal zone and streamed stable 256Kb internet radio. With 11 Pro max it disconnected 4 times, with 12 Pro zero during my 10 minute test-drive.
Same plan Magenta Plus in both phones
Remark:
I tested with T-mobile network since it is much more easier to find dead zones compare to Att or Verizon in my area. Around 1/2 of my surroundings is not covered with so called “nation wide” N71 600MHz 5G. For now I call it “nation de-wide coverage”
There is some secret sauce in the Qualcomm radios when switching towers because of low signals that Intel can’t match.
It's not a dumb comparison because it actually is reality. Don't you think the Intel Modems had a year of development? They did, they were just never as good.
He is comparing a 11Pro using a modem from last year as opposed to a 12Pro which was released this year
False, x55 came out in first quarter of 2019, iPhone 11 came out in sept, x60 is the one that just came out this year but it didn’t meet apple’s deadline, so the iPhone 12 actually using an older Qualcomm modem
Speed wise I can't compare, because I live in the middle of nowhere in the Ozarks.
With that said, all it takes is one drive home through the several hills and valleys and low cell phone signal areas to tell that the difference between an Intel modem and a Qualcomm one is night and day. Fully 1/2 the drive home was in areas where the phone call *would* drop.
Now? I can stay on the phone from the moment I leave work till the moment I walk in the door with not so much as a crackle. That's more than good enough for me.
With that said, all it takes is one drive home through the several hills and valleys and low cell phone signal areas to tell that the difference between an Intel modem and a Qualcomm one is night and day. Fully 1/2 the drive home was in areas where the phone call *would* drop.
Now? I can stay on the phone from the moment I leave work till the moment I walk in the door with not so much as a crackle. That's more than good enough for me.
I’m seeing improved speeds on my 12 Pro Over my 11 Pro. That’s based on cellular speed tests not gut feeling. I have my phone locked on 4G. 5G is slower than 4G in my area.
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It is not a dumb comparison at all. For some people this is the difference between cellular data working in their location and not working. A hugely important comparison and possibly a reason to ditch an iPhone 11 or XS.
are there any real stats like comparing signal strength in low signal areas across all carriers instead of the useless speed tests?
I will always like Qualcomm modems more. However, I had tremendous issues with two 5G Android devices. The One Plus McLaren and LG V60, both would overheat and my signal was a mess. This was with T-Mobile and AT&T. Turning off 5G helped.
That's the only reason why I'm not jumping on any 12 variant. My 11 Pro Max does decently but not as well as my LG G8 same carrier.
That's the only reason why I'm not jumping on any 12 variant. My 11 Pro Max does decently but not as well as my LG G8 same carrier.
So the LG G8 can get a signal better than the 11pro max in weak areas??
MASSIVE difference, in the brief time I had the 12, it was putting my xs max to shame, pulling down 470mb on 4G compared to my xs max 270mb, webpages were loading faster on the 12 as well, the a14 and Qualcomm modem make the new iPhones a pocket rocket.
Hope apple sell their intel modem business and sticks with Qualcomm, don’t want intel rubbish in my iPhone anymore.
Considering the price we pay for iPhones these days, nothing but the best modem should be used in iPhones.
Just wait til next year, x60 is about twice as efficient as x55
I was about to make a new thread about this as I want to know, from the people that owned an X, XS, 11 gen phones and had connectivity/signal issues, if upgrading to a 12 had shown any improvement.
So, bump this up.
So, bump this up.
1 - Are you sure the 12 was on 4g and not 5g? I've never heard of a 4g phone getting 470mb. Or was WiFi possibly on at the time? This should be turned off when doing a speed test or you will be measuring the speed of the WiFi network and not the cell network (or was that your intent)?
2 - Even if true, download speed comparisons are really kind've useless to compare modems really. There are just too many factors in play at any one given time. I know a lot of people look to speeds to talk about signal strength, but it's not an indicator. As HEK alluded to, you really need to measure the signal strength instead.