Analyst says Apple will restrict use of Qualcomm's next-gen 5G modem to the iPhone 16 Pro line

Now that it has been a month since the unveiling of the iPhone 15 series, it doesn't seem too weird or strange to start looking at the iPhone 16 line. According to Haitong International Securities analyst Jeff Pu (via MacRumors), the 2024 Pro models, the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max/Ultra, will be equipped with the latest and greatest mobile 5G modem from Qualcomm. Unless you're a Qualcomm stockholder, you might want to know whether this will impact you and the answer, if you plan on buying an iPhone 16 Pro model, is a resounding "YES!"

The next-gen Snapdragon X75 5G modem will deliver faster and more power-efficient 5G to iPhone 16 Pro users. The chip will give the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G coverage using one transceiver which will reduce battery usage by 20%. The Snapdragon X75 was unveiled by Qualcomm this past February and uses carrier aggregation, which combines multiple carriers to increase data speeds and capacity, to improve performance. It will also take up 25% less room on the iPhone's circuit board compared to the Snapdragon X70.

However, Pu believes that, unlike past iPhone generations in which the newest iPhone models (excluding the lower-priced SE devices) shared the same modem chip each year, Apple will copy what it does with the A-series application processor and will equip only the newest iPhone Pro series handsets with the Snapdragon X75 5G modem chip. The non-Pro models, the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, will continue to use the Snapdragon X70 5G modem chip.

The X75 5G modem chip supports 5G Advanced which is the next generation of 5G connectivity and is an "evolution towards 6G." Similar to how Apple branded the iPhone 6s series as "LTE Advanced" in 2015, the company is likely to refer to the 2024 iPhone 16 Pro line as being "5G Advanced."

Last month, Apple signed a deal with Qualcomm that will keep the company swimming in Qualcomm's 5G modem chips through 2026. Apple has been working on its own 5G modem chips but has run into some problems which has given Qualcomm an unexpected opportunity to continue doing business with Apple to supply it with 5G modems for the latest iPhone models until 2026 ends.