Apple this year introduced C1, its first in-house 5G modem, with the iPhone 16e. However, the company isn’t expected to bring its own modem to more expensive iPhones until at least next year. Analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities has now corroborated this rumor by saying that Apple is working on a new version of its modem for the iPhone 18 Pro models.
Apple’s plans for its 5G modem in the iPhone 18 Pro
In a note to investors seen by 9to5Mac, the analyst says he expects Apple to put the “C2” chip in the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in 2026. This aligns with a recent Bloomberg report about C2 coming next year to “higher-end iPhones.”
Apple’s C1 chip combines 4 nanometer baseband technology with 7 nanometer transceiver technology. As previously revealed by a lab test, the new 5G modem is much more efficient and uses less power than the Qualcomm modems in other iPhones. Pu says that Apple wants to put the C1 chip in the ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air later this year, but the company may end up backtracking.
Given all these reports, it’s unclear whether the base iPhone 18 model will also get the C1 chip while C2 will be exclusive to the Pro models, or whether the less expensive model will still feature a Qualcomm 5G modem for another year.
Of course, since the modem is one of the most crucial components of a phone, Apple probably wants to make sure that its modem is good enough to replace Qualcomm’s modems. Although tests show that Apple’s C1 modem in the iPhone 16e reaches similar speeds to Qualcomm’s modems in most scenarios, it still lacks support for the higher 5G mmWave speeds.
Personally, I won’t be surprised if Apple puts the C1 chip in other products such as cellular versions of the iPad and Apple Watch before bringing them to more iPhone models.
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