Carriers have started rolling out faster LTE-Advanced networks, also known as LTE-A and LTE+. If today’s rumor is correct, the iPhone 6 will be able to take advantage of these faster networks, but will top out at 150Mbps rather than the maximum 300Mbps supported by LTE-A.
GforGames is citing a Geekbar post, suggests that the LTE modem in the iPhone 6 will be the Qualcomm MDM9625, which supports LTE-A but only up to 150Mbps.
To put the speeds into perspective, the LTE modem used in the iPhone 5s and 5c tops out at 100Mbps, so we’d see a 50 percent increase in speed rather than a 200 percent one.
It should be noted that the source of the rumor is the same one which yesterday got its NAND and its DRAM confused, and has a record of mixed reliability. However, it wouldn’t be a surprising decision by Apple. LTE-A is at a very early stage, with limited network roll-out and only a few handsets supporting it. Apple generally prefers to wait for a technology to mature before adopting it.
We shouldn’t have long to wait to find out, with Apple expected to officially launch the iPhone 6 at a media event on 9th September.
Recent claimed leaked parts appear to show tapered edges on the display panel and the power button moved from the top to the side of the phone; a raised camera cutout; a single, circular True Tone flash; and the logic board assembly – with far fewer leaks for the 5.5-inch model, perhaps lending weight to rumors that it will go on sale later than the 4.7-inch one.
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“Apple generally prefers to wait for a technology to mature before adopting it.”
A major exception would be USB.
USB was out a few years before Apple adopted it. The difference is that Apple fully embraced it and unloaded its legacy stuff. PCs continued to be delivered with PS2, serial, and parallel ports for another 10+ years.
Regardless, no carrier will deliver 100+ Mbit LTE throughput to customers for many years, and each of them (at least in the states) say their average throughput is much much lower. So this is really a moot point.
But when it does become true, you’ll be able to exhaust your 5GB data plan in under 3 minutes.
As you allude to with your last sentence, even if customer can eventually achieve such throughput, low data allowances would make this mean very little. This generally only makes a real difference for data-heavy applications, but if/when you’re being so restricted on data in the first place (at least without paying out the rear end), you can’t really take advantage of it anyway.
Heh! You’d generally expect to see some percentage of the maximum theoretical speed, so LTE-A should definitely offer faster real-life speeds, though not the maximum, as you say.
This isn’t a huge deal, at least for us Americans. Very few places in the USA have LTE topping 30mbps down. Every now and then I can find a place with 50+, but it’s rare… My phone’s theoretical max being 3x that is okay.
Yes, all depends on the pace of LTE-A rollout. It’s currently at a very early stage.
Makes sense.
“To put the speeds into perspective, the LTE modem used in the iPhone 5s and 5c tops out at 100Mbps, so we’d see a 50 percent increase in speed rather than a 200 percent one.”
Thank you for the article, but it should be 300 percent.
It’s a 200 percent *increase* to give 300 percent of current speeds
Ben is correct.
Maybe this will help you, yuniverse7:
100 + 200 (the amount of the increase) = 300.
Qualcomm?
I think that was Broadcom BCM21892…