Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro models will be faster and more efficient next year, thanks to new technology packed into the top-tier handsets. That could push users towards the more expensive handsets as the vanilla iPhone models stay with the older and slower option.
That’s according to long-standing analyst Jeff Pu, from Haitong International Securities. Apple will break tradition and offer the new Snapdragon X75 5G modem exclusively on the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max models, continuing to diminish the vanilla iPhone’s specifications while pushing consumers to the higher tier models.
Pu, who has a solid record in reporting from the supply chain on the hardware specifications of upcoming iPhones, says that the next iOS-powered smartphones will, unsurprisingly, continue to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon modems but will split the handset specifications and the latest 5G technology will only appear in the Pro handsets.
It is widely agreed that Apple is working on designing and manufacturing its own modems, just as it has down with its Apple Silicon range of chipsets; Apple itself announced the acquisition of the majority of Intel’s smartphone modem business in late 2019. Yet it continues to use Qualcomm’s range of Snapdragon branded modems across the iPhone and iPad range; last month extending that deal to cover phones launched in 2024, 2025, and 2026, the presumptively-named iPhone 16, iPhone 17, and iPhone 18 families.
The modem choice focuses attention on Apple’s marketing message across the iPhone range. The more advanced Snapdragon X75 modem is expected to only appear in the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max models, with the current X70 model held over for the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus.
Splitting the two models of modems across the iPhone range will help continue the differentiation between the two tiers. Apple has created more separation between its Vanilla and Pro models over the last few years. The most visible implementation of this approach is in the Apple Silicon chipsets; the current iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max are using the new A17 Pro, while the iPhone 15 and iPhone ship with the older and slower A16. You also have the addition of a telephoto lens in the main camera, a 120Hz refreshing screen and, of course, the use of titanium.
Adding a more powerful 5G modem, which will support “5G Advanced” will increase the perceived value of next year’s Pro iPhones. The X75 will offer faster connectivity and more efficient use of battery life over the X70, continuing to distance the two primary flavours of the iPhone.
Until Apple can promote its own range of modems heavily (presumably “connectivity in a way that only Apple can deliver”), the partnership with Qualcomm gives it the flexibility it demands across the range.
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