As legal spat with Apple continues, Qualcomm teases ultra-fast 1.2Gbps LTE mobile chips

Apple supplier Qualcomm on Tuesday revealed a new LTE modem, the Snapdragon X20, which could push the limits of the cellular technology and theoretically appear in a 2018 iPhone — Â if the chipmaker and Apple can get along.

Under ideal conditions the modem can hit downloads up to 1.2 gigabits per second, 20 percent faster than the X16, Qualcomm said. The speed boost was achieved with new carrier aggregation technology pulling in 12 data streams, each up to 100 megabits per second. Upload speeds are significantly slower, but still go up to 150 megabits per second.

Qualcomm is also promising high-quality calls on dual-SIM phones, and support for the 3.5-gigahertz band used by the Citizens Broadband Radio Service, in theory allowing use with private LTE networks.

The X20 is expected to ship in the first half of 2018, which could give Apple enough time to build it into iPhones shipping that fall — if the company expects to continue business with Qualcomm.

Last month it filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm, accusing the latter of withholding almost $1 billion in payments as punishment for cooperating with an investigation by the Korean government, which ultimately led to an $854 million fine. Apple further suggested that Qualcomm is abusing its market position to charge high royalties on standards-essential patents.

Apple is using Intel modems in GSM versions of the iPhone 7 however, and could conceivably divert orders away from Qualcomm if Intel can produce a comparable GSM/CDMA chip.

32 Comments

dws-2 277 comments · 22 Years

About 7 years ago

I'm glad that it's 20% faster, but I wonder how much faster it will be in real-world conditions. For example, is it faster in weak signal areas? Is it faster when the network is congested?

JoeMurphyJr 8 comments · 8 Years

About 7 years ago

The speed boost was achieved with new carrier aggregation technology pulling in 12 data streams, each up to 100 megabits per second. Upload speeds are significantly slower, but still go up to 150 megabits per second.

i don't see the urgency in Qualcomm and Apple settling some dispute to get their hands on an LTE modem that can only hit theoretical speeds in a controlled lab environment. 2-3 way carrier aggregation is a fairly new concept, let alone the idea of 12 carrier aggregation. You won't see anything close to 1.2 Gbps in the real world.

The industry is more preoccupied with 5G as the new shiny technology to tout even faster (lab, not real world) speeds. Intel just came out a 5G capable modem, although it will be a couple years before we ever see it in a smart phone.

paul turner 222 comments · 9 Years

About 7 years ago

Apple tries to force its suppliers to reduce prices, which is fine, but what is not fine is it charges so much for it stuff to us. Hypocrisy. Can dish it out, but can't be on recieving end of its own tactics. Good for QCOM

paul turner 222 comments · 9 Years

About 7 years ago

"Qualcomm is abusing its market position to charge high royalties on standards-essential patents"

And Apple doesn't abuse it own market position of course!

macxpress 5910 comments · 16 Years

About 7 years ago

paul turner said:

Apple tries to force its suppliers to reduce prices, which is fine, but what is not fine is it charges so much for it stuff to us. Hypocrisy. Can dish it out, but can't be on recieving end of its own tactics. Good for QCOM

Bullshit! When you buy say an iPhone, you're getting more than just an iPhone. You're also getting FREE iCloud accounts, FREE iOS updates, FREE iWork apps, FREE iMovie/Garageband, and Photo apps. Plus, you're getting pretty damn good service and a pretty damn good quality phone. If you want cheaper, go ahead and get it and you'll get exactly what you pay for. The same goes for a Mac.