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Very cool to see a new entry into the modem market. Obviously not available for anyone other than Apple, but I’m interested to see how it shapes up over time mu

• p_ing 2y ago
  The modem might be the most interesting thing about this phone. They've spent years trying to get one out the door.
  • bayindirh 2y ago
    I think camera is equally interesting. Why? It uses a linear zoom like a classic lens design inside and embeds an optical 2x zoom lens into a smaller area. From the press release: > With an integrated 2x Telephoto, users have the equivalent of two cameras in one, and can zoom in with optical quality to get closer to the subject and easily frame their shot.
    • OptionOfT 2y ago
      Isn't this the first time they have an actual zoom lens vs multiple lenses and thus CMOS? Edit: reading below it's still unsure if they actually have a lens that moves back & forth to achieve the zoom.
      • bayindirh 2y ago
        This is the first time they use linear (classic zoom) design. The previous one was a 90-degree periscope design. From 16 Pro Max specifications: > 12MP 5x Telephoto: 120 mm, ƒ/2.8 aperture and 20° field of view, 100% Focus Pixels, seven-element lens, 3D sensor-shift optical image stabilization and autofocus, tetraprism design. 5x optical zoom in, 2x optical zoom out; 10x optical zoom range An image showing what they did earlier: https://i.4pda.ws/s/as6yz0d0FvbZniF2YYSyZ3z2HOWajz2.jpg https://i.4pda.ws/s/as6yz0d0FvbZniF2YYSyZ3z2HOWajz2.jpg
        • stirlo 2y ago
          There's absolutely no reason for them to introduce a new mechanical camera system. They previously marketed their cropping of the center 12MP of their 48MP sensor as 2x optical zoom. They will use the same method here.
          • kemayo 2y ago
            Strongest argument that they didn't is that adding something like that is absolutely a thing Apple would have talked about at length in the press release. They love getting to do extensive "here's something cool that 'only Apple could do'" segments. (And we love to make fun of them for it.)
      • kemayo 2y ago
        It's probably the same as the 2x zoom in the iPhone 16 line. The 1x pictures are a 48MP sensor that does some pixel-combining to output a 12MP image. The 2x pictures are a crop of 12MP in the center of the sensor, that doesn't do any combining. So it's still "optical", but it's lower-quality than the 1x.
        • bayindirh 2y ago
          I think it's not "zooming with the sensor", but has a slim lens stack to enable optical 2x zoom. The whole system is also PDAF, so they need the movement anyway.
          • kemayo 2y ago
            It'd be nifty if they did that, but I'm skeptical they'd introduce something like that on their new budget model.
            • rescbr 2y ago
              I'd say it's a nice platform to test on before bringing it to flagship models. Same thing with the new modem.
              • seec 2y ago
                They did the modem because it's actually cheaper for them. They already bought the Intel division and had engineers work on it for over 5 years, so it's already sunk costs at best. Since they came up with a working design, it is FOR SURE cheaper for them to use it than to buy something from Qualcomm. I'm a bit suspicious about this, because if it was truly great, they would have waited longer to advertise it as a must have feature for their "pro" devices. It's sort of beta testing the thing on the lower volume product with less tech literate people who won't complain too much because of some weird connectivity issues. If it performs, Apple is going to make even more money on the next round of iPhone, not that Apple needs any more money but you know, if that could stop them from increasing the price, that could be nice.
    • dcreater 2y ago
      It just crops to the central 12MP of the image sensor. It's the same camera from the iPhone 15
• ipdashc 2y ago
  > I’m also interested to see if it enables cellular in laptops Are WWAN cards not a thing already? I've never looked much into them at all, but they do seem to exist, at least (and seem to be around $20-$50 and plug into M.2 slots)
  • p_ing 2y ago
    MacBooks do not have an M.2 slot, nor do they have WWAN.
  • dagmx 2y ago
    Many laptops, including MacBooks, do not have M.2 expansion available.
    • wtallis 2y ago
      And when laptops do have a spare M.2 slot it's usually intended for an SSD only and is not the right kind of M.2 slot for a cellular (or WiFi) card. And of course, you'd need antennas. So the whole laptop needs to be designed around accommodating cellular connectivity, with significant changes to the internal layout.
      • dagmx 2y ago
        Yeah great point. Given the MacBook is metal, and expansion slot would need to also be placed with cellular in mind to work
• mcculley 2y ago
  Maybe now they can put a cellular modem in a MacBook Pro.
  • tempaccount420 2y ago
    I hope it's not just the Pro, I really want it in a Macbook Air!
    • mcculley 2y ago
      I agree that every device should have a cellular modem option. I am just annoyed that no matter how much I am willing to spend on Apple's top-end road warrior product, I cannot get an option available from Dell.
• aianus 2y ago
  Why doesn’t iPhone tethering solve this problem already? Why pay for two modems? Genuinely curious.
  • 42772827 2y ago
    FindMy relies on the device either connecting to the Internet or pinging a nearby device that does. This would mean Macs always visible in FindMy
  • dagmx 2y ago
    Convenience and also for corporate devices, so you don’t need a company phone to get data on the go
  • MichaelNolan 2y ago
    I'm probably a small minority, but I would trade my phone in for a clamshell/dumbphone tomorrow if my Macbook had 5g. Separately, tethering seems to blow through my phone battery.
• musictubes 2y ago
  I think the long term plan is for the modem to be part of the SOC. That would probably lead to even better efficiency and cost/space savings. If that happens I fully expect the modem to end up in the M series as well.