Confirmed: iPhone 11 Series Phones Have Intel Modems

It looks like the US versions of the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max have LTE modems from Intel, according to the devices' field test screens.

This isn't a huge surprise, but it's interesting. We figured this out because the field test menus on Intel-based and Qualcomm-based iPhones have different menu items, and the menu items have stayed consistent through the generations. (I checked on models from the 6s generation up to the XR.)

According to Apple, there is one model of each of the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Max sold in the US. With one of each device in hand, I went to the field test mode and found that it had an Intel layout.

The field test screen on the new iPhones, which has an 'Intel' layout.

The field test screen on a Qualcomm-based iPhone.

There are other models sold in China, and in other countries outside North America, because Apple hit a maximum limit in terms of LTE band support somewhere in their phone design, and they had to trade out some US bands for some foreign bands. (We have a full rundown of the situation here.) I can't say from experience whether those have Intel or Qualcomm inside, but at this point it would be extremely weird if they weren't using Intel.

The field test info doesn't reveal which model number of LTE modem Apple is using. It's most likely Intel's XMM 7660, because Apple's description of their phones' capabilities matches up with Intel's description of that product. The XMM 7660 was Intel's final 4G modem before it shut down its smartphone modem business and sold many assets to Apple.

We expect LTE performance on the new iPhones to be about 20 percent better than last year's models, but we'll have to check that. The iPhone 11 will have somewhat slower performance than the 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, because it only supports 2x2 MIMO antennas while the more expensive phones have 4x4 MIMO.

During the iPhone 7 and 8 generations, Apple mixed Intel and Qualcomm modems. Qualcomm's modem had clearly superior performance on the iPhone 7, but it was a closer call on the iPhone 8 and X. The XS/XR generation used only Intel modems.

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Apple resolved a multi-year-long series of differences with Qualcomm this year and agreed to once again buy Qualcomm's modems in the future. The "multi-year" agreement will last more than two years, according to Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon. It may have come too late to include Qualcomm's parts in this year's devices.

Apple is also said to be working on its own modems, using the resources and expertise acquired from Intel. Observers see that future as at least three years down the road.

iPhone 11s confirmed to have Intel modems