iPhone 12 5G baseband confirmed: as stable as the next 4 years

Among mobile phone manufacturers, Samsung, Huawei and others have integrated 5G baseband into self-developed processors and become the industry leader. Apple is said to have a similar layout plan, but details are still mostly undocumented rumours. However, it can be confirmed that the baseband chip will take quite a few years to develop. During this period, Apple still relies on mature three-party suppliers.

According to foreign media reports, a document released by the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) revealed some of the content of the supply agreement signed by Apple and Qualcomm before the release of the suspect. The sensitive price part was hidden, but it still exposed a lot of useful information.


Simply put, Apple will need to buy Qualcomm's 5G baseband at least in the next 4 years. Among them, X55 baseband is used from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021, X60 is used from June 1, 2021, to May 31, 2022, and X65 is used from June 1, 2022, to May 31, 2024. Or X70.

Of course, it is speculated that Apple may be able to adopt a similar approach to Samsung, that is, after the research of the baseband is ready, some iPhone / iPad use a full set of independent solutions, and the other part can still purchase Qualcomm chips.

The X55 baseband is also currently used in Snapdragon 865 5G mobile phones. It supports 2G ~ 5G global full Netcom and is compatible with Sub 6GHz and mmWave millimetre wave bands. At least from this agreement, there should be no suspense for the "iPhone 12" series to be equipped this fall.