A recent teardown video of iPhone 12 that has been surfing over the internet for a couple of days, showed that Apple is using Qualcomm Snapdragon modem for better 5G connectivity and band. Earlier this year, Apple made an announcement about the agreement with Qualcomm, which put an end to the long-standing legal battle between the two. It might be the reason why the company is now using Qualcomm devices. Now the future roadmap for Apple does seem to make it clear that they will be using Qualcomm modems in their smartphones and smart devices.
The iPhone 12 series was the first device to do so, using the X55 modems from Qualcomm. Apple is reportedly also using the X60 modem for their devices in the time period of 1st June 2021 and 31st May 2022, details available in the Apple-Qualcomm settlement filing. Similarly, Apple will also be using the X70 modem range from 1st June 2022 and 31st May 2024. It does seem to clear a block between how both the companies were doing business and it seems that both the companies are going to benefit a lot from the deals.
The X60 modems are based on the new 5nm architecture and will provide an exceptional performance boost to the Apple devices when it comes to network connectivity, especially for the 5G enabled devices. Smartphones that feature the X60 will also be able to aggregate data from both mmWave and sub 6GHz at the same time to achieve high speeds with lower latency.