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by BrandonSmith 487 days ago
I'm sure Apple still pays patent licensing fees to Qualcomm even if Apple is now manufacturing their own modem.
1 comments

In the past, Qualcomm was infamous for high licensing fees.

However, part of the process of creating an open industry standard like 4G/5G is getting a legally binding commitment from the patent holders to license standards essential patents to all takers on "reasonable" terms.

> If the patent holder refuses upon request to license a patent that has become essential to a standard, then the standard-setting organization must exclude that technology.

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reasonable_and_non-discrimina...

So Qualcomm is still entitled to some money, but not nearly as much as they made back when there was no legal restriction on what they could demand.

And I noticed that Apple C1 skipped 3G network entirely. Only has 2G,4G and 5G support.
The iPhone 16e Tech Specs page lists 3G (UMTS/HSDPA) support. It's missing CDMA, but they already dropped that way back with the iPhone 14

https://www.apple.com/iphone-16e/specs/

5G NR (Bands n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n14, n20, n25, n26, n28, n29, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n53, n66, n70, n71, n75, n76, n77, n78, n79)

FDD‑LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66, 71)

TD‑LTE (Bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 53)

UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)

GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)

Yeah you are right. I checked the website again. The missing one is DC-HSDPA. I incorrectly think that is the entire 3G networks.
I imagine the 2G network they are talking about is GSM, which is a 2G open standard created in the EU and used internationally.

> It was first implemented in Finland in December 1991. By the mid-2010s, it became a global standard for mobile communications achieving over 90% market share, and operating in over 193 countries and territories.

https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM