Image credit – iFixit
It has been revealed that for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple is using modems from Intel and Qualcomm. The latter has typically supplied modems to Apple, but this year we are seeing Apple start to diversify. However it has been reported that Apple was forced to throttle the Qualcomm modems to put them on par with Intel’s, something that users aren’t too thrilled about.
So much so that it seems that one analyst believes that Apple could be forced to ditch Intel’s modems unless they can catch up. This is according to Northland Capital Markets’s Tom Sepenzis who wrote to investors, “There have been several reports over the past month that have compared the speeds associated with both the INTC and QCOM modems in their respective iPhone models, with INTC coming up short.”
He also adds, “While Apple will certainly keep a second source if possible, it isn’t going to do so for too long if it has to handicap half of its devices. This should give QCOM a path towards recapturing all of Apple over the next two years if Intel doesn’t find an answer.” Sepenzis also revealed that it doesn’t seem like Intel will have an answer soon.
This is because Intel’s next-gen modem will max out at 450mb/s, versus Qualcomm’s X16 which is capable of hitting 1gb/s. Whether or not Apple will ditch Intel remains to be seen, but for the most part it seems that users aren’t really complaining too loudly about the perceived speed differences.