Apple introduced the iPhone 12 series smartphones with 5G support last week. A tear down video from China has confirmed that the phone uses Qualcomm SDX55 5G modem, which is X55 5G that is also used with Snapdragon 865. The iPhone 11 series used Intel XMM7660 4G mode.
Apple and Qualcomm reached a settlement last year, and Qualcomm confirmed that it has signed multi-year chipset supply agreement with Apple. Settlement filing reveals that Apple intends to launch new products with the Snapdragon X60 modem between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022, so that we can expect the next year’s iPhone to be powered by it. We can also expect Apple to launch 5G powered iPad models next year.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X60 3rd generation 5nm 5G modem promises up to 7.5Gbps download speeds and supports both mmWave and sub-6 5G. It will be shipped to suppliers early 2021. The filing also reveals that Apple will use unannounced X65 and X70 modems in products between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2024.