In case you did not know, for the longest time ever Apple’s iPhones used Qualcomm’s modems for its internet connectivity. However starting with last year’s iPhone 7, Apple started to use Intel’s modems as well, so depending on your region, your iPhone could either be sporting an Intel or Qualcomm modem.
It is expected that this mixture will continue with this year’s iPhones, but there’s some bad news. According to a report from Bloomberg, it seems that Apple’s decision to use both Intel and Qualcomm modems will result in iPhones that won’t be able to achieve gigabit download speeds, which apparently is due to Intel’s modems being incapable of achieving those speeds. It is because of that Apple is expected to “limit” Qualcomm’s modem in order to ensure a uniform experience across the board, or so the reports claim.
Now you might have heard that Intel has been working on a new modem that will be capable of reaching 1 gigabit download speeds, but the report from Bloomberg claims that it will not be ready in time for this year’s iPhones, so for now iPhone users won’t be seeing too big of a difference in download speeds.
As Bloomberg points out, this could clash with the marketing plans of carriers who are touting faster network speeds in 2017. It remains to be seen if this will really be the case so take it with a grain of salt for now.
Filed in . Read more about Intel, iPhone, iPhone 8 and Qualcomm.