If Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and oh, I don’t know, about a dozen other outlets are to be believed, Apple is going to introduce a lower-cost iPhone this year. It’s said to feature a hybrid metal/plastic shell, and retail for less than $300.
Outside of those few details, though, we know very little about the handset. But a new report out of China this morning allegedly has new intel on the device, claiming it will use a Qualcomm-made SoC and go into production next month… Read More
Doesn’t it bother you that Apple sells its LTE devices like the iPhone 5 and latest iPads in a bunch of variants, depending on your carrier and geographical location? For example, the iPhone comes in two GSM models and one CDMA version. Blame it on the limitations with existing wireless chipsets, not Apple. Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is a fantastic technology, but it’s also highly fragmented.
And with nearly fifty different cellular bands in use globally worldwide, no wonder LTE is a bag of hurt, one that has introduced fragmentation unlike any other cellular radio technology before it.
Fortunately, chip maker Qualcomm has announced a new cellular solution which supports as much as 40 different bands on a single chip. It could finally allow Apple to build a truly global iPhone model that could support all implementations of the major cellular technologies used by carriers the world over… Read More
The less-pricey iPhone rumor just wouldn’t die. Today, Forbes reports that the Cupertino, California firm is likely to use Qualcomm’s less powerful lower-end Snapdragon processor for the rumored budget iPhone thought to be targeted to price-sensitive shoppers in emerging markets like China, Brazil and elsewhere where carriers rarely subsidize handsets.
The story has it that such a device would not need the same kind of graphics, video and processing power as premium iPhones do and using Qualcomm’s integrated solution could enable the company to integrate the CPU, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on a single chip rather than have three separate chips. As a result, Cook & Co. would be able to minimize costs, a necessity should Apple pursue the rumored $149 price point… Read More
Samsung is preparing for the day Apple – its rival and largest customer – stops placing orders with the South Korean corporation. Ahead of a CES keynote speech, a Samsung executive said it is looking to court Chinese smartphone makers which use the company’s own Exynos-branded chips.
After a string of contentious court battles, Apple is planning to untangle itself from Samsung, finding new suppliers. Although Apple is expected to spend $80 billion with Samsung for everything from CPUs, flash memory and flat screens, the paycheck could shrink 80 percent by 2017, according to a Wall Street analysis… Read More
Though Microsoft passed on this year’s CES keynote, that didn’t stop the company’s boss Steve Ballmer from making his trademark entrance to last night’s keynote by Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs. His running out on stage wasn’t on par with the previous bigger than life entrances and the now famous ‘developers’ chant and was in fact a prearranged surprise, but it’s still kinda noteworthy. Ballmer basically praised Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors that power new Windows 8 and Windows Phone devices. Qualcomm made a number of announcements at the show and the company’s keynote wasn’t short on celebrities…
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Apple has lately been rumored to have been moving some production lines to the United States amid whispers of a $10 billion silicon manufacturing facility being considered in the country. Various reports mention both New York and Oregon for this project, code-named Azalea.
And because of its reported $10 billion construction cost, there are some who suspect Project Azalea is a chip-making plant for Apple’s products aimed at replacing Samsung. Remember, the Galaxy maker semiconductor arm’s $14 billion Austin, Texas facility exclusively churns out Apple-designed mobile chips that serve as the engine for the iPhone and iPad.
The rumor-mill has been adamant that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest independent semiconductor foundry, will run the upcoming US facility in co-operation with Apple, but now TSMC CEO has issued a somewhat weak denial… Read More
More good news for people keeping their fingers crossed for Sharp’s IGZO panels appearing on iOS devices: Tuesday morning, The Wall Street Journal reported that chip maker Qualcomm has agreed to invest as much as ¥9.9 billion, or approximately $120.4 million, in “what is expected to be the first in a series of capital injections to shore up” Sharp’s battered finances and advance its IGZO tech.
That’s good news as Foxconn’s and Apple’s multi-billion dollar deals with Sharp appear to be going nowhere. Sharp’s stock was downgraded to junk and the ailing Japanese consumer electronics maker is now trying to obtain investments from anyone, be it Apple, Intel, Foxconn or Qualcomm.
The launch of Sharp’s awesome, albeit pricey, 32-inch 4K IGZO pro monitor and the introduction of its own tablet, the Aquos Pad SHT 21, which has a seven-inch IGZO display, both indicate yields are improving and so the likelihood of Apple re-considering IGZO panels in future iOS devices is now growing with each passing day… Read More
We’re less than three hours away from Apple’s big presser and, conveniently, a new high-quality photo surfaced alleging to represent the iPhone 5 logic board. From what can be gleaned, the board clearly shows an Apple-designed chip labeled “A6″, in addition to other chips that indicate LTE world-phone functionality, also proving that Apple could indeed be reducing its dependency on fellow smartphone maker and frenemy Samsung, which supplies Cupertino with more than one-third of components that go inside the current-generation iPhone… Read More
Less than four weeks from Apple’s September 12 iPhone 5 event, U.S. carriers continue aggressive deployment of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology, making it all too easy to get carried away with the wonders of high-speed 4G networking on the next iPhone.
After all, 4G is thought to be one of the headline features of the device. On the other hand, this is going to be the first iPhone ever to have 4G, meaning some limitations and teething problems are likely to be expected, as is always the case with first-gen everything from Apple.
Regular users will probably assume that just because the next iPhone is 4G LTE, it’s gonna work on whatever carrier’s fourth-generation LTE network. That may not be the case and if the third-generation iPad is an indication, the iPhone 5 could disappoint some international users with limited support for LTE frequency bands.
That being said, we’re asking you to take a long and hard look at the current state of technology and vote on the kind of LTE support you think the iPhone 5 will have… Read More
With Apple’s next-generation iPhone a no show at San Francisco’s WWDC conference, a new report from Apple’s supply chain in Asia has emerged, claiming that silicon providers left and right are lining up to supply the California-based company with various chips for the next iPhone… Read More
With all of the recent talk regarding the next-generation iPhone’s display, the LTE rumors seem to have faded to the background. Maybe it’s because folks are assuming that, after the third-gen iPad, the feature is a lock for Apple’s next smartphone.
Gene Munster certainly seems to think so. PiperJaffray’s senior Apple analyst told investors today that even though there has been some speculation that a Qualcomm chip shortage could affect Apple’s upcoming handset, it will still ship with LTE compatibility… Read More
In a note to investors this morning, Piper Jaffray’s senior Apple analyst Gene Munster said that Qualcomm is facing supply issues with its new 28-nanometer LTE chips. Munster believes that this cements an October launch date for Apple’s next iPhone.
It’s widely believed that the Cupertino company’s next handset will feature the above-mentioned Qualcomm MDM9615 LTE chipset, as it allows for both voice and data connections over LTE networks. It’s also smaller and much more power-efficient… Read More
Last night, it was announced that the iPhone 4S will be available on China’s third-largest carrier, China Telecom, on March 9th. Apple has been aggressively attacking China and has been reaping off its benefits. To benefit iPhone sales even more, Apple is continuing to pursue adding more carriers to support the iPhone in China.
Reuters reports China’s largest carrier, China Mobile, has been “aggressively negotiating” a deal with Apple, but some technical hurdles are holding back a launch for now… Read More
Opponents of the rumored LTE-flavored iPad have argued that Apple will avoid the 4G technology again this year since it’s still not widely available. Why would the company complicate its manufacturing process with multiple 3G/4G models?
But what they don’t understand is that chips already exist that work with both LTE and 3G networks. Case in point, Qualcomm unveiled a new all-in-one chip today that could very well be what Apple is using in the upcoming iPad… Read More
The latest turn in Apple’s ongoing patent war with Android manufacturing partners has been fairly disappointing for the iPhone-maker. A judge recently found Apple to be infringing on one of Motorola’s wireless patents, causing the company to remove some of its products from its German online store.
Today, Reuters is reporting that Apple has launched a counter-attack, filing a lawsuit against Motorola in a US court. And the outcome of this trial has the power to turn the tide… Read More
TechCrunch’s Robin Wauters reports what we have been assuming for quite some time now: the iPhone 5 will be a global world phone, by essentially enabling you to roam on any network worldwide.
The report lists the mounting evidence, which backs up this earlier claim by Verizon CFO Fran Shammo, that the next iPhone would indeed have the ability to roam globally.
This is very good news for travelers, who won’t have to worry about the hassle of no coverage in areas where only one type of service (CDMA or GSM) is available… Read More
From the same website that brought us the iPhone 5 renderings comes more speculation on Apple’s new iPhone. The site, iDealsChina, is a chinese parts reseller. They don’t have a perfect track record, but they did correctly predict the iPhone 3G and iPod 4G design changes.
Their latest prediction is that the iPhone 5 will hold two SIM cards. They claim it will be for the purpose of supporting dual phone lines, but I’ve got a better guess. The iPhone 5 is rumored to include a Qualcomm Gobi cellular and data chipset. Why does that sound familar?
The guys over at iFixit already got their hands on a Verizon iPhone and took it apart to compare its guts to those of the “original” iPhone 4. Most of what they found wasn’t very surprising, but they did make one interesting discovery.
The Verizon iPhone sports a Qualcomm MDM6600 baseband chipset similar to the Droid Pro World Phone’s, which brings support for both CDMA and GSM… Read More
More potential iPhone 5 goodies to start your weekend off right. Well known Italian hacker, Zibri, has documented his findings from a recent decompile of the latest version of iTunes, uncovering some interesting tidbits.
According to him, the decompile uncovered two files that are quick and easy indicators that future iPhone basebands will be Qualcomm Based. What does this mean for the future of the iPhone?
