The iPhone 16e is the first Apple device to feature an in-house cellular modem, and Apple is reportedly hard at work developing a new and improved version of its C1 modem for future devices.
The C1 is something of a test for Cupertino; it utilizes a mix of 4-7nm baseband components, a 55nm Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) and lacks mmWave support. Apple is unlikely to implement it for its iPhone 17 Pro series, which will rely on Qualcomm modems instead. But that may change with next year’s iPhone 18 series which could see the Apple C2 modem.
According to Pu, Apple will launch its iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max exclusively with the new version of its cellular modem. The baseline iPhone 18 may get the current C1 chip, or it may stick with a Qualcomm modem.
By the way, the C1 is still an external modem, and Apple is rumored to integrate future versions into its A-series chipsets, but according to the most recent report that won’t be soon.
