Preparing for the iPhone Next: Rumors Analyzed
by Brian Klug & Anand Lal Shimpi on August 27, 2012 9:40 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- iPhone
Cellular Connectivity: LTE Expected
The iPhone has always used separate applications and baseband processors. The next model is not expected to be any different. The big addition with the upcoming iPhone will be a massive and much needed improvement in cellular connectivity. Put simply, the addition of both support for LTE in the Americas and perhaps a few other international markets, and TD-SCDMA support for China. Support for LTE is simply requisite for a high end smartphone at this point, and inclusion of TD-SCDMA is likewise requisite for any further growth in China.
The commercial availability of Qualcomm's second generation Gobi modems and transceivers will make this possible without the design caveats posed by the previous generation of LTE basebands. Specifically, caveats such the lack of a built in codec for voice, requiring the so-called Qualcomm SoC fusion scenario that required MDM9x00 to ship in conjunction with a Qualcomm SoC to enable voice (whereas MDM9x15 is natively voice enabled). That's to say nothing of power draw which improved over time for MDM9x00 with software improvements (such as inclusion of more DRX features), but still precluded inclusion in an iPhone without a battery penalty. There's a reason you see MDM9x00 in the iPad 3 with WiFi but not in the iPhone 4S, even though it was available for that product's release.
The part we've fingered for baseband in the next iPhone is Qualcomm's MDM9x15 platform, which is a 28nm TSMC device that includes support for Category 3 LTE TDD and FDD, up to Release 8 42 Mbps DC-HSPA+, GSM/EDGE, TD-SCDMA, and CDMA2000 1x, 1xAdvanced, and EVDO on the MDM9615 variant. This is the same IP block as what is already inside shipping MSM8960 SoCs and devices today, where we've seen great battery life and LTE performance. There's one further improvement as well which MDM9615 hopefully will have over the current MSM8960 implementation, and that's the inclusion of a new 28nm RF (as opposed to logic) transceiver named WTR1605, instead of the 65nm RTR8600. This new transceiver also includes even more ports (7 instead of 5 on RTR8600) which means we will see likely more 3G or 4G LTE bands supported in this upcoming device. Even without that improvement we'll see inclusion of LTE without any caveats.
Because 2x2 MIMO is mandatory for LTE Category 2 and above (and 2 receive diversity mandatory for all LTE categories), you can see how that top bottom RF window and antenna split we touched on earlier makes even more sense. Again, this isn't a big leap from the iPhone 4S which already features both receive and transmit diversity split between top and bottom antennas, but just further fits into the LTE iPhone puzzle.
A small note under the cellular category is that this will also likely continue to be where GNSS (GPS and GLONASS) resides, something the CDMA iPhone 4 and 4S both already have courtesy the MDM66x0 baseband inside. MDM9x15 bumps this slightly, from Qualcomm's GPSone with GLONASS generation 8 to 8A, though I'm not certain what all improvements come from that change in version.
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Super56K - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
It's troubling that you pull the seniority card while sounding like a teenager with all the iSlander and hyperbole. I understand having dislike for company or brand X, but this is honestly the best way you have to voice that?Focher - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
If you had any dedication to your principles, you would be wandering the streets and castigating people whom you see with Apple products. if you choose to do this, I suggest focusing on any nearby bus or subway so you don't stand out.versesuvius - Wednesday, August 29, 2012 - link
Not getting hit by an iSh.. will do just fine.Actually a good advice for iSh.. consumers, though.
cjs150 - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
Beautiful design, great OS has everything a smart phone should have, and best battery life but...Why is it still rubbish at the basis function all phones should do - make and receive phone calls.
In my office we run a mixture of phones some old style bricks, iPhones and Samsungs Galaxy IIs.
The iPhone is by some distance the most flaky at phone calls, too many drop outs, voices fading out for no apparent reason. Even some friends who work very closely with Apple agree, if viewed purely as a phone with no "smarts", it is significantly weaker than 5 year old bricks from Nokia
iwod - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
Sure that is not some thing to do with carrier rather then phone?cjs150 - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
At work we are all on the same carrier.The iPhone is simply not good enough at phone calls. It is fine with a strong signal and you do not move around, but if walking and signal fades then iPhone will drop the call faster than any other phone we use, or just go silent
ajp_anton - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
With a larger device allowing a physically larger battery, why does its capacity increase by such a meaningless amount?A5 - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
I think it is thinner, so the overall volume isn't that different despite being larger in L and W.yankeeDDL - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
I am not really sure what I expected, but is anyone else disappointed as I am?I am not an aApple user, and I will likely not become one after the iPhone5 is released, but I am interested in the trends, especially on the phones that are expected to set the standards.
The larger screen is a welcomed addition: for me 4" is the minimum in a smartphone, so I am glad that the iPhone caught up.
But no NFC? I am looking forward to NFC taking place and stop bringing my wallet around .. this won't hapen until all the mainstream phones will support it, so that's disappointing.
The phone also doesn't seem to have anything revolutionary ... which is probably the intention. Still, I was hoping to see the screen size take up nearly all the area of the phone, while it doesn't.
And what's with yet another proprietary connector? Why not USB + headphones, like every other normal phone?
I thought that the EU passed a regulation that every phone should have a standard charger. I guess I was wrong.
And what about making it easier to have an extra battery at the expense of slickness? My first mobile phone, 20 years ago, had 2 types of back cover: a thin/ligt and a thick/long-lasting. Can't compare really, but that phone lasted 2 weeks on a full charge with medium use (only a "phone" of course).
Mah!
MatthiasP - Tuesday, August 28, 2012 - link
For you 4" are the minimum, for me it's pretty much the maximum for a device i have to carry around. I'm glad there is atleast one highend phone that isn't so ridiculously big.