Apple Can’t Wait—new C2 Modem Already In Testing

Apple’s acquisition of Intel’s smartphone modem business was going to be a write-off in the company’s balance sheets, or at least that’s what it felt like. Years after buying the business, Apple had yet to debut its own in-house modem. That all changed with the iPhone 16e, the first iPhone to use Apple’s new C1 modem. But Apple isn’t stopping there. The latest reports reveal that Apple is hard at work developing the new C2 modem.

New C2 modem in development

According to a post on X by a private account that has a history of accurate leaks, Apple isn’t sitting on its hands. It looks like the company is already working on the C2 modem with the C4020 identifier. Unfortunately, the leaker did not provide more information on the modem, other than to suggest that it is already in development.

However, we can’t say we’re too surprised. Chip development isn’t an overnight endeavor so Apple needs to start work early if they hope to get it ready in time for future releases. This also means that there is a chance that the C2 modem might not make the cut for the iPhone 17 series. The iPhone 17 series is expected to continue using Qualcomm’s modems. The lone exception could be the iPhone 17 Air, which could use the C1 modem.

Improvements are incoming, hopefully

Details on the C2 are scarce right now, but we can only hope that it comes with improvements over the C1. The development of the C1 is kind of a breakthrough for Apple. Apple loves doing everything in-house where possible. Apple does this to reduce its reliance on other companies, who might try to negotiate higher rates or develop technologies at slower speeds than Apple would like.

However, despite the C1 being a breakthrough, it’s far from perfect. For starters, even though it supports 5G, it lacks support for mmWave. Even Apple acknowledges that the C1 isn’t where the company wants it to be. According to Apple’s chipmaking chief Johny Srouji, the C1 is “just the start”.

We’ve yet to see tests of the C1’s speeds so it might be too quick to dismiss it entirely. However, Apple can’t afford to dawdle for too long. Due to Apple’s failure to develop its in-house modems in time, the company extended its partnership with Qualcomm until 2026.

This means that Apple only has a couple of years left to get it right. Otherwise they might be forced to extend their partnership yet again.