Qualcomm or Intel?

[DILands]

Is there any way to tell?
You Might Prefer Apple's iPhone 7 With a Qualcomm Chip Over Intel's Modem

 

[KevinJS]

Looks like it's all iPhone 7 models locked to AT&T and T-mobile that have the Intel chipset. All others have Qualcomm.

 

[J. A.]

A 1784 and 1778 have the Intel chip. Qualcomm is A 1660 and 1661.

iPhones with a Qualcomm chip are sold in China, Japan and the USA (Verizon, Sprint, SIM-unlocked). Every other country gets the iPhone with the Intel chip only.

 

[YankInDaSouth]

Great, my first iPhone and I get the "slower" version [emoji31] Here I thought switching to T-Mobile was for the better... But Verizon gets the better iPhone and exclusivity to the Pixel [emoji33] Man!!

I did run some speed tests when I first got my iPhone and noticed that it wasn't as fast as my S7 Edge. In a spot where I consistently got 100Mbs down on my S7E the iPhone was getting about 60-70Mbs down. However, as far as signal goes, I feel my iPhone stays connected to LTE more consistently in the known fringe areas.


Tapped from my Plus Sized iPhone 7

 

[Pinkpoison]

I dont understand why some get the better chip, Here in the UK we had to pay another £100 on top of last years price but we get the slower version.
If there is some sort of technical reason for this I might take it better but right now I can't see it.

 

[Pinkpoison]

Ok,
I'm really curious about this so I decided to ask Apple, I spoke to a Senior advisor who says he suspects it has something to do with the various networks available in different parts of the world.

However to get a fuller explanation he is going to to talk to Senior tech advisors and will ring me back when he finds out more so hopefully I will be able to post something more positive for those of us with the Intel chip.

 

[YankInDaSouth]

I'm still within my 14 day return period, but honestly not sure if it's worth the hassle of returning it and trying to get the other variant... would like to see the two side-by-side on the same network.


Tapped from my Plus Sized iPhone 7

 

[Pinkpoison]

I'm still within my 14 day return period, but honestly not sure if it's worth the hassle of returning it and trying to get the other variant... would like to see the two side-by-side on the same network.


Tapped from my Plus Sized iPhone 7

I agree first thoughts are disappointing on reading these reports but with day to day use I suspect there won't be a huge difference.
For myself I'm happy with the performance of my 7 Plus so far but curiosity got the better of me.
I hope to be able to put minds at rest when I hear back.

 

[scifan57]

I'm still within my 14 day return period, but honestly not sure if it's worth the hassle of returning it and trying to get the other variant... would like to see the two side-by-side on the same network.


Tapped from my Plus Sized iPhone 7

If you returned your iPhone and tried to get the other variant, you'd have to pick a different carrier or order from another country. The two variants are country and carrier specific.

 

[J. A.]

Last year, the A9 chip for the 6s and 6s Plus was produced by two different manufacturers as well: Samsung and TSMC. The difference in performance between both was minimal.

It seems using two different chips is a kind of insurance for Apple. If one of them develops a flaw, there's still the other one, so they can continue shipping their devices. That wouldn't be possible with a chip from one manufacturer only.

 

[bear7962]

I dont understand why some get the better chip, Here in the UK we had to pay another £100 on top of last years price but we get the slower version.
If there is some sort of technical reason for this I might take it better but right now I can't see it.

This is the reason:
Qualcomm, which holds patents for WCDMA and CDMA2000 standards, is the main CDMA modem supplier in the United States. The company developed the first CDMA-based cellular base station in 1990, and since then it has licensed its technology to companies like Apple in return for royalty payments.
The lack of CDMA support in iPhones with Intel modems may be short lived, fortunately, as Intel acquired CDMA assets from VIA Telecom in 2015. It is believed that this acquisition could pave the way for Intel to release its first LTE modem with both GSM and CDMA support as early as 2017 or 2018.

 

[YankInDaSouth]

Will iPhone 7 Support T-Mobile's New 400Mbps Network?

Came across this article and it may shed light on why there's a difference in modems here in the US (at least for the T-Mobile variant any way). According to the article, the Intel chip cannot handle T-Mobile's newly announced 256 QAM and 4x4 MIMO while the Qualcomm chip "doesn't out of the box, it can with upgrades. To support 256 QAM, Apple would need a software upgrade to the base X12 modem. To support 4x4 MIMO, Apple would actually need to include extra physical antennas."