The Apple C1 is a new feature in the iPhone 16e smartphone. What is it? It is a proprietary 5G modem that the Cupertino giant has been working on for several years. With the iPhone 16e, we finally saw its debut. What does the Apple C1 offer and what does it not? The aforementioned 5G modem has been deprived of support for the mmWave standard, among other things.
Apple C1 debuts with the iPhone 16e smartphone, which was presented on Wednesday. This is the first proprietary 5G modem developed by the Cupertino giant. In this way, the company wants to become independent from deliveries made by Qualcomm, from which this component was previously purchased for iOS phones. What does the new solution offer?
Apple C1 is a proprietary 5G modem without mmWave
In the last decade, the company took over the modem department from Intel and then began work on its own solution. It took a long time, several years. The premiere of the Apple C1 takes place together with the iPhone 16e smartphone, the pre-sale of which starts today, and the market debut is planned for next week.
“The C1 is another benefit of Apple’s silicon: the first Apple-designed and most power-efficient modem ever in an iPhone, delivering fast, reliable 5G cellular connectivity. The Apple silicon — with integrated C1 — a new internal design, and advanced power management in iOS 18 all work together to deliver incredible battery performance, Apple explains in a press release.”
Apple C1 is a 5G modem, so its primary task is to provide connectivity to cellular networks. Unfortunately, the system has some shortcomings and is unable to provide mmWave support. It only supports the Sub 6GHz standard, which is its biggest pain.
A big plus of the Apple C1 integration in the iPhone 16e smartphone is its low energy consumption. As we know, the new phone with the bitten apple logo is supposed to offer up to 4 hours more battery life when watching video than last year’s 16. This is the best result in history among Apple models with 6.1-inch screens.
Apple C1 not only in the iPhone 16e smartphone
The iPhone 16e is the first device on the market to debut with the Apple C1. However, it will not end there. We know that the company plans to implement it in subsequent devices. Which ones?
Let’s not expect Apple C1 to go to the more expensive iPhone 17 smartphones. Precisely because of the lack of support for mmWave. However, it will be found under the casing of selected iPads. In addition, the manufacturer plans to develop its own 5G modems and their next generations are to be better and better. It is suggested that in about 2-3 years they will be able to completely
