Baseband

Intel begins production on modems for the 2018 iPhones

Intel is now manufacturing modems that will be used for the 2018 iPhone lineup. The XMM 7560 is the first Intel modem produced in-house and first to support both CDMA and GSM. Despite this, Apple will still rely on Qualcomm for some of its modem orders despite continued legal problems between the two companies, according to Nikkei. 

Apple expected to increase Intel LTE chip orders as fight with Qualcomm grows

Apple is expected to up its LTE chip orders from Intel as it looks to distance itself from Qualcomm, reports DigiTimes. Despite inferior performance, Intel has gone from supplying around 30% of iPhone 7 baseband chips in 2016 to 50% in 2017. And experts say it could be supplying over 70% of the baseband products for iPhones by 2018.

Earlier this year, Apple filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm in a California district court for charging unfair prices to license its tech. Qualcomm has since countersued Apple, and withheld around $1 billion in royalty rebates from the iPhone-maker as retaliation for its participation in a Korean Fair Trade Commission investigation.

Given the nature of this feud, don't be surprised to see Apple work to dramatically reduce its reliance on Qualcomm over the next several months. The company recently hired Esin Terzioglu, Qualcomm's VP of Engineering, to head up a new chip project. It's believed they are developing their own, in-house baseband modems.

Source: DigiTimes

Apple sues Qualcomm over withholding $1B as ransom in Korean legal investigation

Apple on Friday announced it's suing iPhone modem supplier Qualcomm, which owns many wireless patents, “after years of disagreement over what constitutes a fair and reasonable royalty”. The suit argues Qualcomm withheld nearly $1 billion in payments it owes to Apple as retaliation because Apple cooperated with the Korea Fair Trade Commission. Last month, Korean regulators slapped Qualcomm with a $850 million fine over its patent-licensing practices.

Apple's suit, filed in federal district court in the Southern District of California, accuses Qualcomm of charging royalties for technologies “they have nothing to do with.” Responding to the complaint, Qualcomm called Apple's claims groundless and said they “misrepresented facts”.

Qualcomm denies FTC’s claims it bribed Apple into using its modem chips

Yesterday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Qualcomm with monopolizing baseband modems used in smartphones, basically saying the company bribed Apple into not making a WiMAX iPhone in exchange for better royalties. The chip maker in a subsequent press release denied any wrongdoing, saying the FTC doesn't really understand how the mobile industry works.

Qualcomm under fire from FTC over allegedly forcing Apple to use its baseband modem chips

Now we know why Apple has made the controversial decision to dual-source baseband modem chips for iPhone 7 from both Intel and Qualcomm. Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged Qualcomm with monopolizing baseband modems used in smartphones, saying the firm's leveraged its position to force Apple to use its baseband chips in exchange for lower patent royalties.

Rumor: iPhone 7s to run Intel-made modem chip

A claimed logic board that recently leaked strongly indicated that Apple's upcoming 'iPhone 6s' and 'iPhone 6s Plus' smartphone upgrades will use an improved Qualcomm modem chip, part of its ‘Gobi’ modem platform, with 2x faster LTE download speeds at 300Mbps.

But Apple could be looking to diversify its suppliers two years from now by adding Intel to its supply chain for baseband modems, if sources who spoke with DigiTimes are to be trusted.

Ultrasn0w updated for iOS 6.1

Between the rise of third party vendors and the recent change in DMCA policy, the need for iPhone software unlocks is steadily dwindling. But that doesn't mean that the method is obsolete, as there are still many people out there with older iPhones.

And if you happen to be one of those people, you'll be happy to know that MuscleNerd has confirmed that Ultrasn0w was quietly updated this week to support iOS 6.1. So if you're on an eligible device and baseband, you can unlock on the new firmware...

RedSn0w 0.9.14b2 released with improved baseband downgrading

Last month, the Dev Team released a new version of RedSn0w that allowed iPhone 3G (and some 3GS) users to downgrade their basebands. This was a big deal for users who had been stuck on the problematic 06.15 bb.

Today, the Dev Team has pushed out an update to the jailbreak utility that greatly improves on this feature. The downgrading process has been made simpler, and now works on a much wider range of devices.

RedSn0w 0.9.14b1 released with the ability to downgrade baseband 06.15

As expected, the Dev Team has released RedSn0w 0.9.14b1 tonight. The new version of the jailbreak tool features the highly-anticipated ability to downgrade the baseband on the iPhone 3G(S).

Unlocked 3G(S) users stuck on baseband 06.15 can now downgrade to 05.13.04. This will restore GPS functionality, as well as allow you to use stock IPSWs again. Full details after the break...

Musclenerd hints at Sunday release of 06.15 baseband downgrade

A few days ago we reported about the progress made by Dev Team frontman Musclenerd regarding the possible downgrade of the 06.15 baseband. Looking at the activity on that post we wrote, I'm sure many of you will be happy to learn that Musclenerd hinted earlier today at a release of the downgrade for this Funday Sunday.

When asked about an ETA of the project, Musclenerd replied: