With Apple’s announcement of its iPhone 16e handset, the company also unveiled its custom-designed C1 modem for 5G and LTE connectivity. Up until now, all other current iPhone models have relied upon Qualcomm’s modems, which brought about a certain amount of tension, as Apple and Qualcomm have long been partners, but never agreed about everything. The C1 modem is significant in that Apple has been working on its own cellular modem since at least 2018.
While the C1’s modem speed test benchmarks have yet to be released, it’s expected that Apple’s first modem will provide slower 5G speeds compared to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X71 modem in iPhone 16 models. Apple surely aims to eventually catch up to or even surpass Qualcomm in modem performance, but that goal might take several years.
In the meantime, Apple has stated that the C1 is already the most power-efficient modem ever found in an iPhone, contributing to the iPhone 16e offering the longest battery life of any 6.1-inch iPhone model, including the regular iPhone 16.
Apple has offered the following description as to the C1 and what to expect from it:
“Apple C1 adds a new chapter to the story of Apple silicon and is the result of years of R&D investment, bringing together the work of thousands of engineers. Apple C1 is the start of a long-term strategy that will allow Apple to innovate and optimize the modem system for additional Apple products.”
Per noted supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air, which is rumored to debut later this year, will also feature the C1 modem.
In addition, cellular iPad 11 configurations would be a good candidate for the C1 modem. Apple is expected to announce the iPad 11 in March or April.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has also reported that Apple has considered adding 5G modems to future Mac and Vision Pro models. Gurman and others have noted that Apple is working on C2 and C3 modems. With the C2 modem, Apple is aiming to add mmWave 5G support. With the C3 modem, Apple is apparently aiming to outperform Qualcomm’s modems.
All four iPhone 18 models, and the iPad Pro, could be equipped with the C2 modem.
On a longer timeline, Apple is expected to merge the modem into the iPhone’s A-series chip.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via MacRumors, Apple, Bloomberg, and @mingchikuo