The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max feature Qualcomm's Snapdragon X65 modem for faster 5G speeds, lower power consumption, and improved mmWave support on U.S. models, according to a teardown of the devices shared on YouTube today.
The X65 chip can be seen on the logic board in a teardown of the iPhone 14 Pro. We're still in the process of confirming whether the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus also have the X65, but all models within a series typically share the same modem.
iPhone 14 Pro teardown confirms the inclusion of Qualcomm's X65 modem
Qualcomm announced the X65 modem in February 2021 with power efficiency improvements, resulting in improved battery life while using 5G. In addition, the X65 modem is the world's first 10 Gigabit 5G modem and antenna system for smartphones, enabling theoretical data speeds up to 10 gigabits per second. In May 2021, Qualcomm updated its X65 Snapdragon modem with wider mmWave spectrum support.
The power efficiency improvements of both the X65 modem and A16 Bionic chip contribute to longer battery life on iPhone 14 Pro models. A battery test earlier this week claimed that the iPhone 14 Pro Max lasted two hours longer than the iPhone 13 Pro Max from last year. The iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max are now starting to arrive to customers.
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup.
If you skipped the iPhone...
Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect.
As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes.
The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps.
In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner.
In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and ...
Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself.
Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be.
The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
Wednesday April 16, 2025 11:28 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
If you have been experiencing issues with wireless CarPlay in your vehicle lately, it was likely due to a software bug that has now been fixed.
Apple released iOS 18.4.1 today, and the update's release notes say it "addresses a rare issue that prevents wireless CarPlay connection in certain vehicles."
If wireless CarPlay was acting up for you, updating your iPhone to iOS 18.4.1 should...
Don’t think i saw any reviewer speak about improved signal unfortunately. Battery gains are nice but man apple needs to sprinkle some magic on those antennas.
The X65 is actually a big deal. Not for top theoretical speeds, but it’s much better at aggregating different channels to achieve higher speeds if the cellular site and provider support it.
But the feature I’m most excited about is its ability to use AI to eke out the most from a weak signal. As shown in the article below, the X65 modem has the ability to get over 4 times the throughput with a medium to very weak signal compared to the X60 modem.
I believe Qualcomm sells the modem along with an antenna system. However, I’m not sure the apple uses their antenna system. So if not the performance probably isn’t quite as good as the s22 but should still see improvements over the 13.
I am, and sometimes it's noticeably better, but mainly because on my carrier in Canada in busy areas sometimes the 4G LTE is congested.
What our big three Canadian carriers do is reserve 5G for their main brand, but put the cheaper brands on 4G LTE. This along with the fact that a lot of the installed base isn't on 5G yet means that the 5G service is a lot less congested.
It's not about max download speed though. It's about reliability and reduced lag.
When I got my 13 ProMax last year I noticed a significant improvement overmy 12 ProMax LTE modem. We also live in area of town where the cell signals vary between 1-2 bars in my yard and usually 1 in house with aluminum siding and all. With last years Qualcomm modem I was getting 2 to 3 bars outside sometimes. (Still mostly 2 but better) and 1-2 bars inside. So I saw a major improvement in going to 5G for me I suppose even with weaker signal strength this tower on edge of town had less on 5G vs LTE?
