Cupertino: Apple has officially introduced its first in-house iPhone modem, the C1, with the launch of the iPhone 16E. This significant development marks a major milestone in Apple’s efforts to reduce its reliance on Qualcomm’s 5G chips. The C1 modem is touted as the most power-efficient modem in a phone, contributing to the iPhone 16E’s impressive battery life.
According to Apple’s official website, the phone’s internal design has been optimized to support a larger battery, resulting in up to 26 hours of video playback.
The C1 modem covers a range of low-end 5G spectrum, similar to the iPhone 16, but lacks mmWave capabilities, which offer gigabit-level throughput.
Despite this, the introduction of the C1 modem in the iPhone 16E represents a significant step forward for Apple’s in-house chip development, as per The Verge.
The development of the C1 modem has been a long time coming, with Apple acquiring Intel’s cell modem business in 2019.