4 ms·

The irony that Apple really hate paying that royalty but expect App developers to do the exact same. Here's a fun anecdotal story. Me and my partner both have

by pentae 7y ago

The irony that Apple really hate paying that royalty but expect App developers to do the exact same. Here's a fun anecdotal story. Me and my partner both have iPhone 7+ devices and the same carrier. I get 2 bars of 4G signal and she gets none inside our apartment. She has to walk outside to take calls. I couldn't understand how this was possible but after some research I discovered that my iPhone has a Qualcomm modem and hers has an Intel modem. Say what you want about Qualcomm but they make the best modem in the business. The reason I have not upgraded is quite simply because Apple no longer make a phone with a Qualcomm modem and I won't be able to get signal where I live. Obviously, i'm an edge case. But for the average person paying $1500 for the "Best smartphone in the world" it sure seems crazy that they're also getting the worst modem in the world packaged inside it so Apple can save a few dollars on the cost of the unit.

judge2020 7y ago
You're probably in luck with the next iPhone after https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/04/qualcomm-and-apple-agree-to-drop-all-litigation/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/04/qualcomm-and-apple-ag...
panpanna 7y ago
Not to start a flamewar, but did it ever occur to her that there are other smartphone brands out there? (just trying to understand why people accept this sort of things)
- SomeOldThrow 7y ago
  If the software is what matters (which certainly holds true for me), there's only one other smartphone brand.
umvi 7y ago
> it sure seems crazy that they're also getting the worst modem in the world packaged inside it so Apple can save a few dollars on the cost of the unit. A few dollars? Qualcomm skins you for all you are worth. Yeah, the actual chip is few bucks more, but the support framework for that chip is mega $$$. Want to debug the modem? Looks like you need Qualcomm's proprietary debug tool QXDM! That'll be $25K per year per seat. Oh and if you want their support (so you aren't flailing around with their gigabytes of generated logs) be prepared for another $200k annual support subscription per team. Want a certain document so you can figure it out yourself? $$$.
- incognition 7y ago
  As developers we feel you but to the original point, Apple is already paying that and is basically A/B testing how much pain consumers can take. All at a premium consumer price.
- skavi 7y ago
  That honestly does not sound like a lot of money for a company anywhere near Apple's scale.
- ksec 7y ago
  >A few dollars? Qualcomm skins you for all you are worth. And Amortised over 200M annual iPhone unit shipment? That would be less than a dollar per unit. Not to mention it is highly unlikely Apple paid anywhere close to those prices.

by pentae 7y ago

judge2020 7y ago

You're probably in luck with the next iPhone after https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/04/qualcomm-and-apple-agree-to-drop-all-litigation/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/04/qualcomm-and-apple-ag...

panpanna 7y ago

Not to start a flamewar, but did it ever occur to her that there are other smartphone brands out there? (just trying to understand why people accept this sort of things)

SomeOldThrow 7y ago
If the software is what matters (which certainly holds true for me), there's only one other smartphone brand.

umvi 7y ago

> it sure seems crazy that they're also getting the worst modem in the world packaged inside it so Apple can save a few dollars on the cost of the unit. A few dollars? Qualcomm skins you for all you are worth. Yeah, the actual chip is few bucks more, but the support framework for that chip is mega $$$. Want to debug the modem? Looks like you need Qualcomm's proprietary debug tool QXDM! That'll be $25K per year per seat. Oh and if you want their support (so you aren't flailing around with their gigabytes of generated logs) be prepared for another $200k annual support subscription per team. Want a certain document so you can figure it out yourself? $$$.

incognition 7y ago
As developers we feel you but to the original point, Apple is already paying that and is basically A/B testing how much pain consumers can take. All at a premium consumer price.
skavi 7y ago
That honestly does not sound like a lot of money for a company anywhere near Apple's scale.
ksec 7y ago
>A few dollars? Qualcomm skins you for all you are worth. And Amortised over 200M annual iPhone unit shipment? That would be less than a dollar per unit. Not to mention it is highly unlikely Apple paid anywhere close to those prices.