The upcoming iPhone 8 is primed to be one of the most exciting smartphones that will arrive this year as Apple is said to be working on putting every possible prime feature on the anniversary iPhone. However, it looks like one important feature will miss the bus.
Recent reports say that the next Apple flagship will not come with Gigabit LTE support. This feature allows smartphones to tap into cellular network speeds, according to CNET. Most high-end smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 come with support for Gigabit LTE. If Apple fails to include this in the iPhone 8, it means the next flagship will be a lot slower than its competitors. Those who like to download music and videos on their smartphones will find this bit of news a little concerning.
The primary reason why the iPhone will likely lack the Gigabit LTE feature revolves around the company's relationship with Qualcomm. CNBC cited a CNET report which indicated that the two companies are at odds after Qualcomm accused Apple of holding back the full potential of its modems. Qualcomm insinuates that because Apple also uses Intel modems, it requires both modems to perform the same way. Because of this, Qualcomm claims Apple is preventing its chips from performing to its full potential.
The soured relationship between the two plus Apple's preference to keep things even between the two modems may hinder Apple's quest to develop the best iPhone to be added to its arsenal. Qualcomm recently unveiled its latest processor - the Snapdragon 835 - which was first seen in the Galaxy S8. The new Qualcomm CPU includes the Snapdragon X16 LTE modem which allows fast upload and download speeds via Gigabit LTE. To have an idea of what Apple would be missing in case it fails to include Gigabit LTE support in the iPhone 8, the current speed standard, 4G LTE, is capable of 100Mbps. With the Gigabit LTE, the speed can be 10 times faster than that.
