iPhone 6s Tipped to Sport Faster, More Efficient Cat. 6 LTE Qualcomm Modem

While earlier this week we saw the first set of leaked Apple iPhone 6s images, alleged to show its metal casing, a new leak purportedly shows part of the logic board on the smartphone, revealing some more details on the wireless connectivity.

As seen on the logic board, one of the highlights of the iPhone 6s seems set to be a redesigned wireless system powered by Qualcomm's Cat 6. LTE chipset. The board is seen to sport a Qualcomm MDM9635M chip, which is widely known as '9X35' Gobi modem. The chipset is likely to bring improved LTE connections over the '9X25' chipset found inside the current iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models. The '9X35' Gobi modem can deliver a theoretical 300Mbps download speed as compared to current iPhone 6 models' 150Mbps. The upload speed however would stay the same at 50Mbps. The image was published by 9to5Mac.

Since the new 9X35 modem is made via 20nm production process compared to the current model's 28nm process modem - its added efficiency will also lead to less heat generation. This could result in a better battery life. 9to5Mac also reports that the upcoming handset's motherboard consumes less space than the last generation, leaving some room for a larger battery.

Qualcomm, while introducing the new chip said that it would let the manufacturers "design sleeker devices without sacrificing performance, while at the same time allowing operators to increase their network capacity and efficiency." While this could be inferred to mean that the next iPhone model may be slimmer than the current generation, that does not tie in with recent leaks, which either hint at a size in line with the current generation, or slightly thicker to incorporate Force Touch.

The rumoured iPhone 6s is said to sport the same design like the current models with a negligible difference in the thickness and width on the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 model. However, since the metal casing that leak was based on were from an early build, there is a chance Apple may tweak the design of the final version.