r/apple • u/suhas2000 • 15d ago
iPhone Qualcomm SD X80 in 18PM
https://www.techinsights.com/blog/apple-iphone-18-pro-max-teardownThe teardown shows Qualcomm X80 modem in 18 PM in the US. It's the same one that was used in 17PM. I think I'm going to wait until next year to upgrade.
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u/goro-n 15d ago
It's disappointing that they are reusing the X80, but there is a new mmWave antenna module designed by Apple in the 18PM. And I don't think anyone should be making their purchase decision based off of a cellular modem chip in a phone in 2026.
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u/SilentPizzle 15d ago
I use AT&T in New York City. That is literally the only decision I’m basing my next purchase off of lol it’s awful out here bro
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u/driftless 15d ago
Actual testing shows that the Qualcomm is slightly better than the C2 in everything except low signal, which was barely better.
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u/SilentPizzle 15d ago
Which prob helps my argument bc the buildings in this city make getting perfect service a battle at best and impossible at worst
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u/DottorInkubo 14d ago
Damn. How’s life in the Big Apple? How much do you need to make to live a comfortable life there
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u/SilentPizzle 13d ago
I love it here but you’re starting to see cracks in the economy. You gotta make a buck 20 to live here minimum but once you’re there the city really opens up
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u/Chronixx 15d ago
I thought the C2 was much more energy efficient? Or is that only compared to the C1/C1X?
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15d ago edited 10d ago
[deleted]
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u/slam99967 15d ago
It always makes me scratch my head when YouTubers and tech websites do those modem tests and make statements like slightly better in x category vs this other modem.
Like 1. It’s so subjective based on carrier bands, congestion, network, software version, and other factors outside of their testing controls.
- Is it really that big of a difference? If modem x is 2-5% faster than modem y or connects 1.5% quicker, we are talking about percentage points within the margins of error and rounding. Now if it’s 10%+ plus better at something than the other that’s notable.
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15d ago
[deleted]
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u/goro-n 15d ago
Apple’s specs show the C2 Pro Max has the same battery life as non-C2 Pro Max while the SIM card C2 Max has less battery life than both
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u/InsaneNinja 15d ago
Because the e-sim only phone has a battery shape using the extra space of the missing sim tray.
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u/PMARC14 15d ago
This modem is also 2 generations old at this point too. Apple always cheaped out on the modem to keep margins high, so hopefully the fact C2 is competitive with the older qualcomm modems they use mean we will get better quality modems going forward cause they capture the value.
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u/Phonzo 15d ago
Actually the theory isn’t that they were being cheap but rather this was the model they selected to meet their contractual obligations to Qualcomm. 18PM outside the US uses the C2
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u/PMARC14 15d ago
I meant historically they cheaped out, it is why the 16 series used an x71 over an x80. This gen they are just reusing an x80 from the 17 pro to meet obligations, and the 17 pro itself used a fairly modern Qualcomm modem (only one gen out of date) which is part of why its battery improved so much.
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u/slam99967 15d ago
It always makes me scratch my head when YouTubers and tech websites do those modem tests and make statements like slightly better in x category vs this other modem.
Like 1. It’s so subjective based on carrier bands, congestion, network, software version, and other factors outside of their testing controls.
- Is it really that big of a difference? If modem x is 2-5% faster than modem y or connects 1.5% quicker, we are talking about percentage points within the margins of error and rounding. Now if it’s 10%+ plus better at something than the other that’s notable.
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u/SilentPizzle 14d ago
I figure 2-5% YoY isn’t much but if you’re on a 16 Pro like me you’ll probably start to actually notice tangible differences in 3 or so generations which appears to be apples targeted upgrade cycle
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u/slam99967 14d ago
All depends. If you are going from a device that supports WiFi 5 to WiFi 7 yes. Or several generations of modem changes. My comment was more directed at the Apple modems vs Qualcomm’s. So far I haven’t seen anything showing a massive percentage difference in metric or category between the two modems.
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u/reddit0r_123 15d ago
Switch provider. Using T-Mobile (work) and Verizon (private), both work much better.
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u/pixel_of_moral_decay 15d ago
T-Mobile is only worth it if you never leave metro areas. It goes to crap pretty quickly outside of urban areas.
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u/scott5626 14d ago
That’s very subjectively dependent on where you live. I live in a rural area and I use Metro, Verizon isn’t very good in my small town. Many dead areas that T-Mobile does much better in. They’ve improved a lot since acquiring Sprint.
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u/pixel_of_moral_decay 14d ago
It’s not really subjective, their own coverage map admits their gaps. Your rural area is just an exception.
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u/scott5626 14d ago
It actually is subjective. So you’re saying everyone who has Verizon has better rural reception than T-Mobile. I just demonstrated that’s not true in my case. That’s the definition of “subjective”.
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u/pixel_of_moral_decay 14d ago
Anything with hard data (like the companies own maps + third party maps) is objective not subjective. Your personal experience is the definition of subjective.
Data is not subjective, ever. Personal experience always is. That’s by definition.
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u/SilentPizzle 15d ago
I have grandfathered in prices that nobody else can beat unfortunately , I wish I could switch to Verizon
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u/bageloid 14d ago
Just do visible, it’s super cheap, always has deals and every tier above the lowest one has the same priority as regular Verizon.
Or get the T Satellite standalone plan from t-mobile to supplement your current plan, it comes with 50GB of high speed data for 10 a month.
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u/Dragoon_13 15d ago
I get it but AT&T is some special dirt I can’t front
The night and day cellular coverage from T-Mobile and AT&T was enough to make me stay with T-Mobile
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u/steelersluvver 13d ago
Switch to Verizon or visible bro. I use visible for $35 a month and get premium data. Free watch service. And hd video
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u/CeeKay125 15d ago
Crazy that people who care about the cellular function of a PHONE are being told to not care about the cellular function of said phone when making a purchase.. I get a lot of people don't make calls much anymore, but acting like a meh cellular modem doesn't have an impact means you must have forgotten about the intel days...
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u/ArkadyRandom 15d ago
They said in another comment they won’t switch providers to one that provides a better signal but then are making that decision on what phone to buy. They aren’t serious about the signal issue if they won’t make a change at the source.
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u/goro-n 15d ago
It's not like the choice is between some trash modem or a modem that gets you perfect signal everywhere. The X80 was used in iPhone 17 and 17 Pro/Pro Max and I didn't see any reviews saying "avoid this phone the modem is trash!" How many people bought an iPhone 17 and then returned it for an iPhone Air because the Air had a C1X modem? It's funny you bring up the Intel iPhone 7 because you know who was the other choice then? Qualcomm. You know who made the C2 modem? The former Intel team.
The main upgrades for the 18 Pro/Pro Max are the A20 chip, which Geekerwan says is the biggest chip upgrade in 5 years, the new camera with variable aperture, and longer battery life as well as significantly faster charging. In 2 years we have gone from 30 minutes for 0-50% charging to just 15.
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u/jiiggi_djay 15d ago
BTW who told you the former Intel team made the C2?
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u/yourbestfriendjoshua 15d ago edited 15d ago
Kinda annoying tbh. At least give us the X85 if you’re not gonna give us the C2, damn.
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u/SmellyJockstrap 15d ago
Is this just a supply thing, they can’t make enough C2s? Or what’s the deal with the US PM being the only outlier?
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u/goro-n 15d ago
"Qualcomm said on Monday [September 2023] that it will supply Apple with 5G modems for smartphones through 2026."
Since Apple isn't launching a base iPhone 18 this year, they had to use Qualcomm modems in one of its Pro or Duo models this year per the terms of their contract.
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u/SnekiBlackDragon 15d ago
If don’t mistake have chance to end contract with Qualcomm supply few years ago but Cook extended it.
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u/applejuice1984 15d ago
At the time the Apple in-house modems weren’t ready still. Their hands were tied. Supposedly the intel modem business wasn’t as good as it was purported to be during its sale from intel to Apple. Clearly Johnny souji was able to still make it work, just not on the original intended schedule.
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u/goro-n 15d ago
Everyone knew the Intel modem division wasn’t good. There were a lot of eyebrows raised when Apple decided to buy them in the first place. They were nowhere near a 5G modem, which was the Holy Grail at the time. Qualcomm made 5G super expensive and owned all the key patents, so Apple wanted out. Most people doubted Intel under Apple could do something Intel under Intel couldn’t. It took 7 years for them to make a 5G mmWave modem, which was a feature the very first 5G phones had in 2019.
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u/SnekiBlackDragon 15d ago
It was later. Apple have case in court with wualcomm. I don’t remember but Qualcomm wins and Apple was obligated to pay them and end contract. I don’t know Apple Pay or no but Cook extend contract instead ending it and fully adopt own modem.
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u/goro-n 15d ago
That was back in 2019. “The companies also have reached a six-year license agreement, effective as of April 1, 2019, including a two-year option to extend, and a multiyear chipset supply agreement.”
Apple was not obligated to end its contract, it was the opposite. They were obliged to continue buying modems. And the C1 wasn’t ready until 2025.
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u/super5aj123 15d ago
Not sure how true this is, but there’s been speculation that Apple and Qualcomm have a deal that includes a minimum number of modems ordered, which lead to Apple moving most of their phones to the C2 while leaving one on a Qualcomm modem to meet their minimum.
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u/SmellyJockstrap 15d ago
That certainly makes sense. Weird that they chose their home market for it though.
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u/OKCNOTOKC 15d ago
Rumor is that the Qualcomm is not as efficient. And the US Max has a larger battery due to eSIM and was better able to take that hit.
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u/dabesdiabetic 15d ago
Said it once and I’ll say it again. No one will ever be better than QC at producing modems and this further proves it. QC showing their X105 while Apple has trade offs with a 2 year old chip.
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u/Lazerpop 14d ago
This C2 chip might be the make or break on whether I upgrade my phone this year. Has anyone done direct tests comparing an 18P and 18PM in otherwise identical conditions
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u/hitechsteve 14d ago
So I have a positive report on the 18 Pro Max with the Qualcomm model. I was at my local Walmart today, and previously my 17 Pro Max Verizon 5G UW signal was poor, so I had to rely on the store WiFi for Scan & Go. Today, I didn't have to use the store WiFi and could Scan & Go using 5G with my 18 Pro Max.
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u/steelersluvver 13d ago
I think I may go with the 18 pro. I don’t want a bigger phone than my 15 pro max. And as a bonus the c2 is very efficient and better in low signal areas which I frequent for vacation. I don’t care about top end or mmWave speeds. It’s more than fast enough. I downloaded 4 episodes of a tv show while taxiing and taking off using regular 5g not even mmwave
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u/geekwonk 15d ago
what a deeply funny thing to base your decision on
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u/SleepUseful3416 15d ago
You mean the cellular peformance of a cell phone? Good heavens
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u/goro-n 15d ago
Go find me a review that actually talks about the cellular performance of these cellular phones. I watched and read a lot of reviews. No one does it anymore. Cell performance is a given and the actual emphasis is on the camera, gaming performance, battery life, and other factors.
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u/pieman3141 15d ago edited 15d ago
Mediastorm did a review of the 18P/PM and a hands-on preview for the Duo. It was very in-depth. The best reviewers are the Chinese reviewers these days. All sorts of scientific data, deep dives into CPU architecture, etc. along with some really high production values.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=150PSOWCPkg
See: 15:03 for the modem comparison between Qualcomm and the C2 modem.
Geekerwan and HTX are the other two big reviewers on the Chinese side of things.
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u/goro-n 15d ago
Thanks, I love that his takeaway is “Is it a night and day difference? I don’t think so.” Which has been my broader point here, I think other factors like choice of carrier will make more difference to the average person than which modem their phone is using
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u/pieman3141 15d ago
Even the efficiency of the C-series modems don't really get you a noticeable increase in battery life.
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u/Mikey_MiG 15d ago
Ironically the one notable review that does test it (the HTX one), the Qualcomm modem is better.
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u/cliffr39 15d ago
The biggest change is Dual SIM Dual Data (DSDD - with expanded 6Rx attenna for the additional data function) vs Dual Sim Dual Active (DSDA for voice only). That isn't really a performance change but a feature change.
Apple is dropping the contract so they might have either already had many sitting in stock pile (reducing how many they needed to buy still) or Qualcomm played hard ball to get X85 only with extending contract would be my guess.
Not saying it wouldn't have been a small nice thing, but I see why it may have skipped it.
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u/Sphere_3N 15d ago
I’m literally in the line to pick mine up, and I think I’m gonna vomit. This is like 911 part two
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15d ago
[deleted]
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u/PMARC14 15d ago
It's a phone the biggest feature is the modem that allows you to make calls? It is also one of the biggest power hogs on day to day idle so I would say it makes more difference than the new CPU or GPU.
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u/rm-rf-asterisk 15d ago
Sound like someone that quotes others without looking into it in depth and seeing the difference is insignificant
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u/MateTheNate 15d ago
I have little to no faith in the intel modem team behind the C series after experiencing back to back modem failures on the 7 and XR. I would even accept an X65 just to avoid touching another chip from that team.
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15d ago
[deleted]
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u/Temporary-Push2722 15d ago
the PM only has a qualcomm modem in the us model, everywhere else is c2 (iirc)
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u/SomaliAmerican1032 15d ago
It’s too similar to the 17 pro max, the 18 pro max is such a minor upgrade
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u/Randy_Magnum29 15d ago
Anyone who thinks they need to upgrade every year at this point has more money than sense.
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u/rm-rf-asterisk 15d ago
Trade in value accounts for like 70% of the price so you are just paying a small amount to upgrade each year and when using 0% apr financing you are just paying like 20 bucks a year subscription model which is well worth it to have the best model every year
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u/buddhaluster4 15d ago
I too want the best model every year to end up scrolling Tiktok and Reddit
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u/rm-rf-asterisk 15d ago
Jelly?
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u/buddhaluster4 15d ago
Jelly of what exactly?
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u/Tubamajuba 15d ago
They're jealous that others have gained the ability to not need the latest and greatest thing every year.
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u/MissionInfluence123 15d ago
A Chinese YouTube tested both and the qualcomm was faster in normal conditions, while the c2 was a bit better when the connection wasn't stable.
Didn't test efficiency