Apple recently announced its native proprietary cellular modem with the iPhone 16e, potentially reducing the company's dependency on Qualcomm. However, it is not without its caveats as a glance at the iPhone 16e's specifications reveals that the modem lacks mmWave support, limiting its 5G connectivity speeds. Interestingly, this may soon change.
Apple’s upgraded C1 modem: Key details
According to TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the C1 modem's architecture on the iPhone 16e utilises a mix of process technologies, with a 4nm/5nm baseband, 7nm low-frequency transceivers, 7nm intermediate-frequency transceivers, and a 55nm power management integrated circuit (PMIC). However, this complex architecture only supports up to sub-6GHz 5G connectivity, limiting the utilization of. other common 5G bands used worldwide.
Moreover, the lack of mmWave, which is the extremely high frequency (EHF) band, results in slower download and upload speeds. To address this, Kuo has stated on social media platform X that Apple is developing the refreshed version of the C1 modem, which aims to enhance power efficiency, boost transmission speeds, and introduce mmWave support.
The analyst has also confirmed that this mmWave network connection will not consume a lot of power and will deliver a stable connection, unlike the current modem. The company is very likely going to continue with the 4/5 nm-basedband chips to improve network connectivity.
It’s not clear whether the lack of mmWave support will keep the C1 out of upcoming iPhone 17 models, or whether Apple will use Qualcomm modems. However, as Kuo has confirmed that this upgraded C1 modem will enter mass production next year, we can expect this modem to be introduced with the iPhone 18 models.
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