iPhone 7 With Qualcomm Modem Performs 30% Better Than iPhone 7 With Intel Modem [Report]

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Posted October 21, 2016 at 2:23am by Shalom Levytam

Apple dual sourced the LTE modem for the iPhone 7 from Qualcomm and Intel but the two modems don't perform equally, according to a new report from Cellular Insights.

We've heard complaints about this since the launch of the iPhone 7. Users claimed that the Intel modem found in the AT&T and T-Mobile models didn't perform as well as the Qualcomm one in Verizon and Sprint devices.

Cellular Insights compared the performance of both the Intel XMM7360 modem and the Qualcomm MDM9645M using a Rohde & Schwarz (R&S) CMWflexx setup containing two R&S CMW500 and one R&S CMWC controller, as well as the R&S TS7124 RF Shielded Box with four Vivaldi antennas.

At -96dBm the Intel variant needed to have Transport Block Size adjusted as BLER well exceeded the 2% threshold. At -105dBm the gap widened to 20%, and at -108dBm to a whopping 75%. As a result of such a huge performance delta between the Intel and Qualcomm powered devices, we purchased another A1784 (AT&T) iPhone 7 Plus, in order to eliminate any possibility of a faulty device. The end result was virtually identical. We are hoping that this sudden dip in performance at a specific RSRP value will be further investigated by the engineering and hopefully resolved. At -121dBm, the Intel variant performed more in line with its Qualcomm counterpart. Overall, the average performance delta between the two is in the 30% range in favor of the Qualcomm variant.

iPhone 7 With Qualcomm Modem Performs 30% Better Than iPhone 7 With Intel Modem [Report]

The site tested performance on bands 12, 4, and 7. The same performance difference was noted on each band. In fact, the Intel modem performed even worse than the modem on the iPhone 6s at most signal strengths.

Have you noticed a difference in your LTE performance since getting the iPhone 7? Let us know in the comments!

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nevericitomas - October 28, 2016 at 7:14am

Guys, this study was paid by Qcom. There is about 1000 parameters how you can measure the performance of mobile chip. We shoudl ask why in this study was selected 3 out of these 1000 parameters where Intel is much worse than Qcom. There are other parameters where Intel outperforms Qcom and in most of them they are on par. Do not trust this !com propaganda. Anyaway I am sure Intel will now work hard to improve also on these.

Yeah - October 22, 2016 at 1:47pm

So how are we allowing to pay the same amount of money to a phone that performers lower then the another? Apple or the cell phone companies need to fix this in some way or another. That make AT&T and T-Mobile users want to ditch them and go to Verizon or Sprint.

Tacotuesdays - October 22, 2016 at 5:59am

I went from iPhone 6plus to 7 and it's much slower :(

Michael Z - October 22, 2016 at 1:58am

I thought I was crazy. Switched from an iPhone 6s with iOS 10, and my iPhone 7 was noticeably slower. Now, it's confirmed.

landro - October 21, 2016 at 4:20pm

T-Mobile iPhone 7 here, data connectivity is definitely way worse than my old 6s... sucks :(

gamerscul9870 - October 21, 2016 at 2:36pm

Verizon only did good because as it says here, this company and sprint has Qualcomm versions. I once had Verizon when having overage charges and dumped them after that.

Amatmulisha - October 21, 2016 at 2:23pm

How to know my 7 use qualcomm or intel?im not from usa,so there's no telco like verizon or sprint,etc.

William Azevedo - October 21, 2016 at 7:00pm

the Qualcomm model is only for USA China and Japan.

hamood_d10 - October 21, 2016 at 9:29am

We get the most expensive mobile phone and in return we don't get what we paid for, why did Apple do that? They need to work more to prevent these things from happening. I have an iPhone 6s and will stay with it.

gamerscul9870 - October 21, 2016 at 2:33pm

I guess it depends on a specific iPhone 7 you get in which some may get lucky to get what they paid for. If anything, it probably helps with the storage affecting the performance to narrow the models down.

Vipul Bhatia - October 21, 2016 at 9:11am

Yes LTE performance is worse on 7 plus..switched from 6 plus

/-: - October 21, 2016 at 3:03am

Verizon reigns supreme again haha

zetaprime - October 21, 2016 at 2:58am

I have At&T with 7 . No difference from before.

SayingWhatEveryonesThinking - October 21, 2016 at 2:51am

I thought it was just AT&T sucking. Damn.

Art E - October 21, 2016 at 2:34am

Absolutely. I even had to return my iPhone 7Plus and get a new one. No difference.

Alan Moore - October 21, 2016 at 2:30am

Yes substantial difference with my previous iPhone 6 Plus (AT&T). My new iPhone 7 Plus (AT&T) is terrible with calls.