iPhone 12 teardown videos are beginning to show up around the web, and one reveals that the new iPhones are equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 modem, which aligns with rumors we heard before the handsets’ launch.
An iPhone 12 teardown video posted on Chinese social networking site Weibo provides a look at the L-shaped logic board and the modem chip.
The X55 offers 7Gb/s peak download speeds and 3Gb/s upload speeds, though actual speeds will depend on the wireless carrier’s network. The chip is the first produced by Qualcomm to support all major frequency bands, operation modes, and network deployments.
The chip offers support for both 5G mmWave networks and 5G Sub-6GHz networks, along with 5G/4G spectrum sharing.
The new chip is much more power-efficient than its predecessor, the X50 chip, meaning it will draw less energy, contributing to extended battery life when connected to a 5G network.
There was some speculation that Apple might use the X60 for the iPhone 12 lineup. Qualcomm in February 2020 introduced the X60 modem, which is built on a 5-nanometer process, making it more power-efficient than the 7-nanometer X55. However, the X60 likely was released too late to be included in the iPhone 12.
Next year’s iPhones will likely use the X60, which should bring performance improvements in terms of battery draw, component size, and connectivity speed.
