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A new report from KGI suggests that 2018 iPhones will have significantly faster baseband chips from both Intel and Qualcomm (via 9to5Mac). The main supplier is expected to be Intel. With ongoing global legal battle between Qualcomm and Apple, the move to Intel by the iPhone maker doesn’t come as a huge surprise.
The most recent forecast from KGI suggests that 70%-80% iPhones with improved baseband chips will come from Intel, and will power the 2018 iPhones. Lawsuits have been filed by both Apple and Qualcomm against each other. KDI doesn’t specify the kind of speeds we can expect to see, but there will be very noticeable improvements. These chips will be pre-5G wireless chips, but will provide a significant speed boost to 2018 iPhones and have 4×4 MIMO. Current iPhones currently have 2×2 MIMO.
KGI reiterates that Apple is also working on its own baseband chips. The reason why Apple is doing it is pretty obvious: to reduce overall cost of producing the iPhone. If Apple were to design their own baseband chips, it would help bring down the production cost of the iPhone.
There is also a chance that Apple will partner with MediaTek to provide baseband chip source code. This is so Apple could further diversify and not have to rely entirely on Qualcomm and Intel, even though KGI says that Intel will power 70%-80% of 2018 iPhones.
