Apple has been relying on different suppliers for internal components on its iPhones. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were powered by Apple A9 chipsets made by either Samsung or TSMC. While the current A10 SoC is solely manufactured by TSMC, the LTE modem used on the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are either powered by Qualcomm or Intel. Now, a new report suggests that Apple may be throttling the speeds to offer a uniform experience on the new iPhone 7, irrespective of the carrier.
The new iPhone 7 is the first Apple phone to either be powered by Intel XMM 7360 modem or Qualcomm X12 LTE modem. Theoretically, the Qualcomm modem is capable of downloading data up to 600Mbps, compared to Intel modem that can download at 450Mbps. While iPhones on Verizon network are capable of offering faster data download speeds compared to AT&T, a research carried out by Twin Prime and Cellular Insights found Verizon LTE speeds to be marginally faster.
The Bloomberg report cited researchers at Twin Prime and Cellular Insights for testing. Recode in a separate report citing sources claims that Apple indeed limited some iPhone 7 models featuring Qualcomm chipset to match the speeds of Intel-powered chipsets. "It wanted the cost savings and flexibility of having two chip sources but also wanted the different versions of the phone to be as similar as possible," said Ina Fried in her report. Apple has however refuted the claims of different download speeds.
Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller commenting on the report said, "Every iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus meets or exceeds all of Apple's wireless performance standards, quality metrics, and reliability testing. In all of our rigorous lab tests based on wireless industry standards, in thousands of hours of real-world field testing, and in extensive carrier partner testing, the data shows there is no discernible difference in the wireless performance of any of the models."
Twin Prime also did a real world testing by pitting the Apple iPhone 7 against the Samsung Galaxy S7, both running on Verizon network. Despite both smartphones using the same Qualcomm modem chip, Samsung handset was twice as fast compared to the new iPhone. Jan Dawson, founder of tech insight firm Jackdaw Research LLC told the publication that the throttling may have been done on Apple’s end. “They don’t want one version to get the reputation that it is better. If Apple had a guiding principle it’s that they want to make sure customers were having a consistent performance,” she said.
Today, with companies battling to make their smartphones the fastest, Apple throttling network speeds on the new iPhone 7 could turn out to be an unusual step. However, analysts believe that t could be done to offer uniform performance across networks. The move to have speed parity could also keep wireless carriers happy as customers won’t complaint about higher speeds on other networks. When Financial Review contacted Apple, the spokesperson said, “Every iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus meets or exceeds all of Apple’s wireless performance standards, quality metrics, and reliability testing.”
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