As many are aware, there are two different versions of the iPhone 7/7 Plus for sale in the US:
Model A1660/A1661 (GSM/CDMA)
with Qualcomm Snapdragon X12 Modem (LTE Advanced up to Cat. 12 downlink with 600 Mbps peak download speed)
for Sprint and Verizon
but also works on AT&T and T-Mobile
Model A1778/A1784 (GSM only)
with Intel XMM 7360 Modem (LTE Advanced up to Cat. 10 downlink with 450 Mbps peak download speed)
for AT&T and T-Mobile
but will not work on Sprint nor Verizon
Besides CDMA support (on the A1660/A1661 only), it's difficult to answer any minor differences in usage between the Intel and Qualcomm models of the iPhone 7. This thread is posted to facilitate discussion between real-world differences, if any, between the Intel and Qualcomm LTE platforms in power usage and performance.
This may be a similar situation to "Chipgate" when Apple dual-sourced their A9 system-on-a-chip from both Samsung and TSMC, where benchmarks found the TSMC more power-efficient. However, real-world differences meant that an iPhone 6S with a TSMC-made Apple A9 had only 2-3% better battery life than one with a Samsung-made Apple A9.
Is the Qualcomm or Intel modem better with battery life? Is one faster? Interested in what we know.
Model A1660/A1661 (GSM/CDMA)
with Qualcomm Snapdragon X12 Modem (LTE Advanced up to Cat. 12 downlink with 600 Mbps peak download speed)
for Sprint and Verizon
but also works on AT&T and T-Mobile
Model A1778/A1784 (GSM only)
with Intel XMM 7360 Modem (LTE Advanced up to Cat. 10 downlink with 450 Mbps peak download speed)
for AT&T and T-Mobile
but will not work on Sprint nor Verizon
Besides CDMA support (on the A1660/A1661 only), it's difficult to answer any minor differences in usage between the Intel and Qualcomm models of the iPhone 7. This thread is posted to facilitate discussion between real-world differences, if any, between the Intel and Qualcomm LTE platforms in power usage and performance.
This may be a similar situation to "Chipgate" when Apple dual-sourced their A9 system-on-a-chip from both Samsung and TSMC, where benchmarks found the TSMC more power-efficient. However, real-world differences meant that an iPhone 6S with a TSMC-made Apple A9 had only 2-3% better battery life than one with a Samsung-made Apple A9.
Is the Qualcomm or Intel modem better with battery life? Is one faster? Interested in what we know.
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