Rumors of Apple’s iPhone 13 family abound and it is largely clear what the new series will look like and what it will have under the hood. The renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo now reports on one of the hitherto unknown highlights.
In addition to 4G and 5G: iPhone 13 allegedly with Leo satellite communications
Ming-Chi Kuo has in An investor note viewed by Macrumors stated that the iPhone 13 series could communicate with Leo satellites. This makes it possible to continue to have reception in areas without 4G and 5G reception in order to make calls and send messages.
Satellite telephony is made possible by a modified X60 baseband chip from Qualcomm that works with low-orbit Satellite (Leo) can communicate. Other smartphone manufacturers are waiting until 2022 to adopt the X65 baseband chip, which is required to implement satellite communications functions, according to Kuo.
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- iPhone 13: Everything we think we know about the new Apple phones
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iPhone 13: satellite communication probably via Globalstar
Even if Starlink from Elon Musks SpaceX is probably the best-known provider of Leo Satellite communication is, there are indications that Apple and in the future also other manufacturers are likely to rely on a different company. Qualcomm had already announced its cooperation with Globalstar in February 2021: The US chip developer announced at the time that the upcoming X65 chip would support Globalstar’s band-n53 technology. The 3GPP had previously approved the n53 band as 5G band.
The Globalstar network for telephony and messages. (Image: Globalstar)
According to Kuo, customers of a partner network operator should be able to use Globalstar’s satellite communication service on the iPhone 13 directly without additional contracts or payments. Kuo added in his note that Leo satellite communications is a technology that is comparable to mmWave 5G in terms of its impact on the network industry, and Apple could leverage both technologies. He went on to explain that Apple was “optimistic” about the trend in satellite communications and that “some time ago” had set up a special team for research and development of technologies related to this technology.
The launch of the iPhone 13 series will be expected in September along with a new Apple Watch Series 7. Then we should also find out whether Apple is actually equipping its smartphone with satellite telephony. In view of the fact that Qualcomm had already announced the cooperation with Globalstar, the whole thing is not so absurd.
