4.7-Inch iPhone 6 Logic Board Equipped With Qualcomm's MDM9625 LTE Modem

Friday August 29, 2014 2:38 pm PDT by Eric Slivka
Amid all of the leaks today based on photos and videos from luxury modified iPhone vendor Feld & Volk [Instagram page], one additional point worth mentioning is the device's LTE modem. While photos posted to reveal the existence of an NFC chip from NXP has seen identifying marks on many of the other components blurred, a portion of the text printed on the LTE modem is visible, confirming the board does indeed contain Qualcomm's MDM9625M as had been previously rumored.

iphone_6_board_mdm9625
MDM9625M boxed in red

The MDM9625 is a Category 4 LTE modem, supporting speeds of up to 150 Mbps, compared to the MDM9615 Category 3 modem at up to 100 Mbps, which is found in the iPhone 5s, 5c, and 5. Some observers had been holding out hope that Apple might use Qualcomm's even faster MDM9635 Category 6 modem as is reportedly lined up for Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Alpha handset, but with Apple's history of conservatism in choosing its cellular technology and questions about production ramp-up for the MDM9635 make it unsurprising that Apple has opted for the MDM9625.

iphone_6_board_wtr
Likely WTR1625L boxed in red and WFR1620 boxed in blue

Part of the speed benefits of the MDM9625 and new LTE-Advanced technology compared to earlier generations of modems comes from the use of carrier aggregation to combine channels for greater bandwidth. With the MDM9625, this carrier aggregation requires a pair of companion chips, a WTR1625L transceiver chip and a WFR1620 chip. These chips appear to be located on the opposite of the iPhone 6 logic board from the LTE modem itself.

On the whole, the use of the MDM9625 in the iPhone 6 sets the stage for faster cellular data connectivity as networks are built out to support its capabilities, and Apple will likely tout some of these improvements during its media event scheduled for September 9.

(Thanks, chrmjenkins!)

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farewelwilliams
72 months ago
Phil Schiller should just show Macrumor posts on stage by now.
Rating: 75 Votes
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jabingla2810
72 months ago
The tag line for the event should really say, "Do we really need to say any more?"
Rating: 16 Votes
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Paddle1
72 months ago
Fast news day.
Rating: 14 Votes
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jian
72 months ago

Phil Schiller should just show Macrumor posts on stage by now.


I logged in just to like your post. well done mate.
Rating: 11 Votes
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Wayfarer
72 months ago
*Obligatory double down post*


-Tim Cook :apple:
Rating: 10 Votes
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macduke
72 months ago
*accidentally clicks link for hour long youtube video, blows through entire data plan before realizing it*
Rating: 7 Votes
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troop231
72 months ago
Now we can use our paltry data buckets up that much faster! :p
Rating: 7 Votes
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Mattsasa
72 months ago
Man, basically everything leaked today....
Rating: 5 Votes
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Medic311
72 months ago
yeah the leaks are really out of control

if they do present a watch though, they did a stellar job of preventing leaks
Rating: 5 Votes
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Hugibugi
71 months ago

Feld & Volk is going to get nuked from orbit... I almost think they know they're in trouble because this is Friday of a Holiday weekend... So the lawyers are off early (doing whatever lawyers do for fun?), and have Monday off too.

The soonest the Apple orbital lawsuit canon can be directed their way is Tuesday afternoon. The company does realize their days of "luxury iPhone mods" have come to a screeching halt.. Just ask Gizmodo... Who's whole company of web reporters is banned from Apple events years later. Apple holds a mean grudge kids.


What Apple can do to Russian company? Really? No chance to do anything
Rating: 4 Votes

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