MDM9615

The Qualcomm MDM9615M is the baseband chip used in the iPhone 5. It is a 28 nm LTE (FDD and TDD), HSPA+, EV-DO Rev B, TD-SCMA modem and allows for multi-spectrums, multi-mode LTE support. It is responsible for transmitting simultaneous voice and data transfer on LTE (provided the carrier has the infrastructure to allow simultaneous voice and data transfer.)

Right next to the Qualcomm MDM9615M is the Qualcomm RTR8600 multi-band/mode RF transceiver. The RTR8600 is paired alongside the MDM9615 to support various bands, including 5 UMTS bands, and over 5 LTE and 4 EDGE bands.

Baseband Firmware
The firmware for the baseband chip comes in either  files (for the iPhone 5, iPad 4 and iPad mini) or   files (for iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPad Air and iPad mini 2), with X being the version digits. The BBFW file is just a renamed standard ZIP archive and contains a couple of .mbn files which are all digitally signed with a certificate from Qualcomm - similar to the iPhone 4S.

One notable difference to the iPhone 4S baseband, is that since the iPad 3 and iPhone 5, the main baseband code is entirely running on the Hexagon DSP.

Looking at strings found in the baseband, this is based on the same source code base as used on older qualcomm chipsets by other manufacturers (like HTC).

iPhone 5, iPad 4 and iPad mini
1.00.16   6.0          (Build 10A405) 1.01.00   6.0.1        (Build 10A525) 6.0.2       (Build 10A551) 3.04.01   6.1 beta     (Build 10B5095f) 3.04.06   6.1 beta 2   (Build 10B5105c) 3.04.12   6.1 beta 3   (Build 10B5117b) 3.04.17   6.1 beta 4   (Build 10B5126b) 3.04.25   6.1 beta 5   (Build 10B143?) 6.1         (Build 10B143) 6.1.1 beta  (Build 10B311) 6.1.2       (Build 10B146) 6.1.3 beta 2 (Build 10B318) 6.1.3       (Build 10B329) 6.1.4       (Build 10B350) 4.14.01   7.0 beta     (Build 11A4372q) 4.17.01   7.0 beta 2   (Build 11A4400f) 4.18.02   7.0 beta 3   (Build 11A4414e) 4.18.06   7.0 beta 4   (Build 11A4435d) 5.00.00   7.0 beta 5   (Build 11A4449a) 7.0 beta 6  (Build 11A4449d) 5.00.01   7.0GM        (Build 11A465) 7.0         (Build 11A465) 7.0.2       (Build 11A501) 5.02.00   7.0.3        (Build 11B511) 7.0.4       (Build 11B554a) 7.0.6       (Build 11B651) 6.00.02   7.1 beta     (Build 11D5099e) 6.00.03   7.1 beta 2   (Build 11D5115d) 6.00.05   7.1 beta 3   (Build 11D5127c) 7.1 beta 4  (Build 11D5134c) 6.00.07   7.1 beta 5   (Build 11D5145e) 6.02.00   7.1          (Build 11D167) 7.1.1       (Build 11D201) 7.1.2       (Build 11D257) 7.02.03   8.0 beta     (Build 12A4265u) 7.02.06   8.0 beta 2   (Build 12A4297e) 7.02.10   8.0 beta 3   (Build 12A4318c) 7.02.12   8.0 beta 4   (Build 12A4331d) 7.02.13   8.0 beta 5   (Build 12A4345d) 7.03.00   8.0GM        (Build 12A365) 8.0         (Build 12A365) 8.0.1       (Build 12A402) 8.0.2       (Build 12A405) 7.02.13   8.1 beta     (Build 12B401) 7.03.00   8.1 beta 2   (Build 12B407) 8.1         (Build 12B410) 8.1         (Build 12B411) 8.1.1 beta  (Build 12B432) 8.1.1       (Build 12B435) 8.1.2       (Build 12B440) 8.1.3       (Build 12B466) 8.2 beta    (Build 12D436) 8.2 beta 2  (Build 12D445d) 8.2 beta 3  (Build 12D5452a) 8.2 beta 4  (Build 12D5461b) 8.2 beta 5  (Build 12D5480a) 8.2         (Build 12D508) ?.??.??   8.3 beta     (Build 12F5027d) 8.00.02   8.3 beta 2   (Build 12F5037c) 8.3 beta 3  (Build 12F5047f) 8.01.00   8.3 beta 4   (Build 12F61) 8.3         (Build 12F69) 8.3         (Build 12F70) 8.00.02   8.4 beta 2   (Build 12H4086d) 8.4 beta 3  (Build 12H4098c) 8.00.03   8.4 beta 4   (Build 12H4125a) 8.02.00   8.4          (Build 12H143) 8.4.1 beta  (Build 12H304) 8.4.1 beta 2 (Build 12H308) 8.4.1       (Build 12H321) 9.00.00   9.0 beta     (Build 13A4254v) 9.00.02   9.0 beta 2   (Build 13A4280e) 9.00.03   9.0 beta 3   (Build 13A4293g) 9.00.04   9.0 beta 4   (Build 13A4305g) 9.0 beta 5  (Build 13A4325c) 9.0GM       (Build 13A340) 10.00.00  9.0          (Build 13A344) 9.0.1       (Build 13A404) 9.0.2       (Build 13A452) 9.00.04   9.1 beta     (Build 13B5110e) 9.1 beta 2  (Build 13B5119e) 10.00.00  9.1 beta 3   (Build 13B5130b) 9.1 beta 4  (Build 13B136) 9.1 beta 5  (Build 13B137) 9.1         (Build 13B143) 9.00.03   9.2 beta     (Build 13C5055d) 9.2 beta 2  (Build 13C5060d) 10.00.00  9.2 beta 3   (Build 13C71) 9.2 beta 4  (Build 13C75) 9.2         (Build 13C75) 9.2.1 beta  (Build 13D11) 9.2.1 beta 2 (Build 13D14)

iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s
The first iPad Airs and iPad mini 2Gs were delivered with iOS 7.0.3, so the oldest possible baseband would be 1.02.02 for these devices. 1.00.06   7.0          (Build 11A465) 7.0.2       (Build 11A501) 1.02.02   7.0.3        (Build 11B511) 1.03.01   7.0.4        (Build 11B554a) 1.03.02   7.0.5        (Build 11B601) 7.0.6       (Build 11B651) 2.07.02   7.1 beta     (Build 11D5099e) 2.11.00   7.1 beta 2   (Build 11D5115d) 2.13.01   7.1 beta 3   (Build 11D5127c) 2.14.01   7.1 beta 4   (Build 11D5134c) 2.16.01   7.1 beta 5   (Build 11D5145e) 2.18.02   7.1          (Build 11D167) 7.1.1       (Build 11D201) 7.1.2       (Build 11D257) 3.07.01   8.0 beta     (Build 12A4265u) 3.08.04   8.0 beta 2   (Build 12A4297e) 3.08.09   8.0 beta 3   (Build 12A4318c) 3.08.12   8.0 beta 4   (Build 12A4331d) 3.08.16   8.0 beta 5   (Build 12A4345d) 3.09.01   8.0GM        (Build 12A365) 8.0         (Build 12A365) 8.0.1       (Build 12A402) 8.0.2       (Build 12A405) 3.10.04   8.1 beta     (Build 12B401) 3.11.00   8.1 beta 2   (Build 12B407) 8.1         (Build 12B410) 8.1         (Build 12B411) 8.1.1 beta  (Build 12B432) 8.1.1       (Build 12B435) 8.1.2       (Build 12B440) 8.1.3       (Build 12B466) 8.2 beta    (Build 12D436) 8.2 beta 2  (Build 12D445d) 8.2 beta 3  (Build 12D5452a) 8.2 beta 4  (Build 12D5461b) 8.2 beta 5  (Build 12D5480a) 8.2         (Build 12D508) ?.??.??   8.3 beta     (Build 12F5027d) 4.00.10   8.3 beta 2   (Build 12F5037c) 8.3 beta 3  (Build 12F5047f) 4.01.00   8.3 beta 4   (Build 12F61) 8.3         (Build 12F69) 8.3         (Build 12F70) 4.02.00   8.4 beta 2   (Build 12H4086d) 8.4 beta 3  (Build 12H4098c) 4.03.00   8.4          (Build 12H143) 4.02.01   8.4 beta 4   (Build 12H4125a) 4.03.00   8.4.1 beta   (Build 12H304) 8.4.1 beta 2 (Build 12H318) 8.4.1       (Build 12H321) 5.00.03   9.0 beta     (Build 13A4254v) 5.00.07   9.0 beta 2   (Build 13A4280e) 5.00.09   9.0 beta 3   (Build 13A4293g) 5.00.10   9.0 beta     (Build 13A4305g) 5.00.11   9.0 beta 5   (Build 13A4325c) 9.0GM       (Build 13A340) (iPhone 5c only) 9.0         (Build 13A344) (iPhone 5c only) 6.00.00   9.0GM        (Build 13A341) (iPhone 5s, iPad Air, iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3) 9.0         (Build 13A344) (iPhone 5s, iPad Air, iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3) 9.0.1       (Build 13A404) 6.01.00   9.0.2        (Build 13A452) 5.00.11   9.1 beta     (Build 13B5110e) 9.1 beta 2  (Build 13B5119e) 6.01.00   9.1 beta 3   (Build 13B5130b) 9.1 beta 4  (Build 13B136) 9.1 beta 5  (Build 13B137) 9.1         (Build 13B143) 5.00.11   9.2 beta     (Build 13C5055d) 9.2 beta 2  (Build 13C5060d) 6.01.00   9.2 beta 3   (Build 13C71) 9.2 beta 4  (Build 13C75) 9.2         (Build 13C75) 9.2.1 beta  (Build 13D11) 9.2.1 beta 2 (Build 13D14)