On Wednesday, Apple introduced its first in-house modem chip, called “C1,” which is designed to connect iPhones to wireless data networks, reducing its dependency on Qualcomm chips. This new chip is central to the $599 iPhone 16e, which was also unveiled that day. Apple executives told Reuters that these custom chips will be integrated into more of their products in the future, though they provided no specific timeline for this expansion.
Reuters:
The chips are part of a new collection of components Apple calls the C1 subsystem. A subsystem houses key components like processors and memory.
The iPhone 16e, which will feature the same A18 processor chip as the rest of its iPhone 16 lineup, has the best battery life of any of its 6.1-inch phones thanks to the C1 system, Apple’s Kaiann Drance, vice president of iPhone product marketing, told Reuters…
The C1 subsystem is the most complex technology Apple has ever built, with a baseband modem manufactured with advanced 4-nanometer chipmaking technology and a transceiver made with 7-nanometer technology, Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, said in an interview at one of Apple’s silicon labs in Sunnyvale, California.
The chips had to be tested with 180 carriers in 55 countries to ensure they will work in all the places Apple ships iPhones.
“We build a platform for generations,” Srouji said. “C1 is the start, and we’re going to keep improving that technology each generation, so that it becomes a platform for us that will be used to truly differentiate this technology for our products.”
One of the ways Apple hopes the C1 will set its iPhones apart is by tightly integrating it with its processor chips.
For example, if an iPhone encounters congested data networks, the phone’s processor can signal to the modem which traffic is the most time sensitive and put it ahead of other data transfers, making the phone feel more responsive to the user’s needs, said Arun Mathias, vice president for wireless software at Apple.The C1 chips also have custom GPS systems and satellite connectivity for when iPhone users are away from mobile data networks. But they will lack some features, such as the ability to connect to what are known as millimeter wave 5G networks.
Millimeter-wave technology is one of Qualcomm’s strongholds. Apple executives declined to say when the company’s chips will have the technology or how quickly Apple will phase out Qualcomm’s chips.
MacDailyNews Take: C1 is the first modem designed by Apple and the most power-efficient modem ever on an iPhone, which is why the new iPhone 16e offers the best battery life ever on a 6.1-inch iPhone, lasting up to six hours longer than iPhone 11 and up to 12 hours longer than all generations of iPhone SE.
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