FastLane

This wasn't mentioned in the article (but is a big delta for 5G)...  S21 5G modems will be the Qualcomm X60 versus X55 on the iPhone 12.  This means simultaneous multi-band 5G (including carrier aggregation) versus only one band at a time on the X55.  This is critical in that 5G is a "layered" network with some bands not penetrating buildings and others (low band) doing that well but at a lower bandwidth.  You want a modem that can talk to them all at the same time and pick the best -- or even merge them.  This allows for a more reliable and consistent 5G connection.

The X60 is also a 5nm part which means when using 5G it will pull less power than the X55 (which is 7nm... 2x the physical layout size) on the iPhone 12. 

The iPhone 13 will have this but it was a huge miss for the iphone 12.

Qualcomm overview on the X60 and it's benefits versus X55:   

minglok50 said:

FastLane said:

X60 was announced early 2020.  Apple probably missed it by a month for production. 

The bottom line is kinda this... No different from what we went through on 4g/lte modems.

Rev 1 moderns were pretty bad.  Didn't support many bands.  Were power hogs. 

Rev 2 fixed  compatibility and marginally better power.  Didn't have final key features telecoms wanted to roll out. Power not great.

Rev 3 were basically  right on.  All key features present.  Power decent   Marginal improvements made after that. 


Someone asked if the 888 was SoC with X60.  Answer is yes.

So the first phone to use the X60 won't be out until early 2021 - The iPhone 12 was released in October 2020. Not sure the X60 was ready for mass production then?

To be fair the 5G network is still in its infancy so plenty of time for faster 5G modems to be added to mobile phones.

Xiaomi’s Mi 11 has the 888 and integrated X60.  It's already on sale. Iphone 12 went on sale 2 months ago.  Like I said, they missed it by a month'ish.

X60 was announced early 2020.  Apple probably missed it by a month for production. 

The bottom line is kinda this... No different from what we went through on 4g/lte modems.

Rev 1 moderns were pretty bad.  Didn't support many bands.  Were power hogs. 

Rev 2 fixed  compatibility and marginally better power.  Didn't have final key features telecoms wanted to roll out. Power not great.

Rev 3 were basically  right on.  All key features present.  Power decent   Marginal improvements made after that. 


Someone asked if the 888 was SoC with X60.  Answer is yes.