Apple to combine its own 5G modem, main chip in a single package

Apple has recently unveiled the iPhone 16e as its most affordable offering in the iPhone 16 lineup. The new model also debuted the company’s very first in-house 5G modem, Apple C1, departing from the usual Qualcomm modem.

With that, Apple seems to have a better plan for future iPhone releases using its in-house modems. According to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, the long-term goal is to integrate the modem directly into the main processor.

In theory, this leads to improvements in energy efficiency and most importantly, cost reduction. However, such modem-integrated chipsets won’t come anytime soon.

Gurman claims that Apple is already testing C2 and C3 models, but the integrated design likely won’t emerge until 2028 at the earliest.

Apple has touted the C1 as its “most power-efficient modem ever in an iPhone.” The iPhone 16e, starting at PHP 39,990, also features a slightly less powerful version of the A18 chip with four GPU cores (from five) and supports Apple Intelligence.

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