In a test conducted by Cellular Insights, the iPhone X with the Qualcomm modem outperformed the Intel variant in terms of LTE speeds. The report also stated Apple is disabling features in the Qualcomm variant, to keep a level-playing field with the Intel variants.
There is more than one version of the iPhone X in the world, and one of them is the fastest. Ever since the iPhone 7, Apple has equipped the iPhones with either a Qualcomm modem or an Intel modem, depending on the carrier you choose. The practice has continued in the iPhone 8 models and also the iPhone X, and based on a cellular network test conducted by Cellular Insights, the Qualcomm variant of the iPhone X has faster LTE speeds than the Intel variant.
As per a PCMag report, the iPhone X variants with the Qualcomm modem “get consistently better LTE speeds than Intel’s on America’s most common LTE band.” The Qualcomm variant is sold in the US (Sprint, Verizon and U.S. Cellular), Australia, China and India, while the Intel variant is sold by most global carriers including AT&T and T-Mobile. There is also a third variant that is sold only in Japan. Among the two popular variants, the Qualcomm-powered iPhone X wins.
Cellular Insights tested the two variants out on LTE Band 4 which is the band used by every major US carrier, save for Sprint. Based on its test, the iPhone X running the Qualcomm X16 modem wins, but the Intel-variant is fast closing in. “Compared to last year's tests, while Intel's modem hasn't caught up to Qualcomm's, there's a considerably smaller difference between the two,” the report stated.
The report also found Apple has been disabling certain features in the Qualcomm variant because they are not available in the Intel variant. Gigabit connectivity, for one. While Android flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S8, Google Pixel 2 and LG V30 all use the same Qualcomm X16 modem and have support for 4×4 MIMO for gigabit LTE, the same is not available on the iPhone X.
That is possibly because the Intel modem doesn’t support the tech yet, according to the report, and Apple will of course want a level playing field. Both models of the iPhone X max out at 600Mbps.
Furthermore, Apple is clearly distancing itself from Qualcomm now, after being locked in a web of lawsuits with Qualcomm alleging that Apple is not paying license fees that the company charges for the use of proprietary tech. Apple, for long, was stuck with Qualcomm because no other company made high-end cellular modems that worked on Sprint and Verizon CDMA networks in the US. But then, Intel is coming out with a modem that will likely bridge the gap.
In the future, Apple could ditch both the vendors altogether. The Cupertino giant hired a Qualcomm executive recently to work on its own modems which could come out in iPhones in 2019 or 2020.
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