The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon X65 modem for faster 5G speeds, lower power consumption, and improved mmWave support on U.S. models, according to a teardown of the devices shared on YouTube today.
The X65 chip can be seen on the logic board in a teardown of the iPhone 14 Pro. We're still in the process of confirming whether the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus also have the X65, but all models within a series typically share the same modem.
iPhone 14 Pro teardown confirms the inclusion of Qualcomm's X65 modem
Qualcomm announced the X65 modem in February 2021 with power efficiency improvements, resulting in improved battery life while using 5G. In addition, the X65 modem is the world's first 10 Gigabit 5G modem and antenna system for smartphones, enabling theoretical data speeds up to 10 gigabits per second. In May 2021, Qualcomm updated its X65 Snapdragon modem with wider mmWave spectrum support.
The power efficiency improvements of both the X65 modem and A16 Bionic chip contribute to longer battery life on iPhone 14 Pro models. A battery test earlier this week claimed that the iPhone 14 Pro Max lasted two hours longer than the iPhone 13 Pro Max from last year. The iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max are now starting to arrive to customers.
Don’t think i saw any reviewer speak about improved signal unfortunately. Battery gains are nice but man apple needs to sprinkle some magic on those antennas.
The X65 is actually a big deal. Not for top theoretical speeds, but it’s much better at aggregating different channels to achieve higher speeds if the cellular site and provider support it.
But the feature I’m most excited about is its ability to use AI to eke out the most from a weak signal. As shown in the article below, the X65 modem has the ability to get over 4 times the throughput with a medium to very weak signal compared to the X60 modem.
I believe Qualcomm sells the modem along with an antenna system. However, I’m not sure the apple uses their antenna system. So if not the performance probably isn’t quite as good as the s22 but should still see improvements over the 13.
I am, and sometimes it's noticeably better, but mainly because on my carrier in Canada in busy areas sometimes the 4G LTE is congested.
What our big three Canadian carriers do is reserve 5G for their main brand, but put the cheaper brands on 4G LTE. This along with the fact that a lot of the installed base isn't on 5G yet means that the 5G service is a lot less congested.
It's not about max download speed though. It's about reliability and reduced lag.
When I got my 13 ProMax last year I noticed a significant improvement overmy 12 ProMax LTE modem. We also live in area of town where the cell signals vary between 1-2 bars in my yard and usually 1 in house with aluminum siding and all. With last years Qualcomm modem I was getting 2 to 3 bars outside sometimes. (Still mostly 2 but better) and 1-2 bars inside. So I saw a major improvement in going to 5G for me I suppose even with weaker signal strength this tower on edge of town had less on 5G vs LTE?
Thursday December 28, 2023 7:30 am PST by Joe Rossignol
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But the feature I’m most excited about is its ability to use AI to eke out the most from a weak signal. As shown in the article below, the X65 modem has the ability to get over 4 times the throughput with a medium to very weak signal compared to the X60 modem.
I believe Qualcomm sells the modem along with an antenna system. However, I’m not sure the apple uses their antenna system. So if not the performance probably isn’t quite as good as the s22 but should still see improvements over the 13.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/exclusive-samsungs-galaxy-s22-is-a-low-signal-beast