According to the rumors, Apple’s iPhone 12 will feature support for 5G. In a new report from DigiTimes (paywall), the publication is claiming that Apple’s partner TSMC is expected to begin production of the A14 chipsets this month, which we suppose isn’t too surprising, but what’s interesting is the claim that TSMC will also be making Qualcomm’s X60 modem that will find its way into the iPhone 12.
So why is that interesting? This is because according to the previous rumors, it was widely-believed and expected that Apple would actually be using the X55 modem. The X60 was actually announced earlier this year and it is believed that phones that take advantage of the newer modem would only be launching in 2021, so it’s interesting and a bit sketchy that Apple might be the first to use them this year.
For those wondering about these 5G modems and why they matter, they do. The X50 was Qualcomm’s first 5G modem and its limitation was that it could either only connect to a mmWave network or a sub-6GHz network. Its successor, the X55, could connect to both, but not at the same time. The X60, on the other hand, would be capable of connecting to both and aggregating both networks, meaning that it could in theory combine the data streams from various frequencies that would in turn offer up faster speeds.
The X60 is also built on the 5nm process meaning that it can not only do more work compared to the X50 or X55, but it would also be more energy efficient, which is important as 5G would no doubt have an impact on battery life. Needless to say that this should be taken with a grain of salt for now.
Filed in . Read more about 5G, iPhone, Iphone 12 and Qualcomm. Source: macrumors