I am not a a big semiconductor nerd, so I am speculating. But putting all the chips in a single package, like the S10 on the Apple Watch is where I think Apple is going
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Apple Says iPhone 16e's New C1 Modem is Just the 'Start' in Interview
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Apple , up until now, kept around iPhones for 3 cycles ; Phone n , iPhone n-2 , and iPhone n-3 all on sale at the same time. The iPad 9th gen just go dropped after 3 years ( 2021- 2024 ). The iPad Mini went comatose for long while. etc. A while back went a whole year with zero iPad upgrades on any model.
All the new stuff on Cx in two years. Yes. But all the devices Apple may keep the iPad 10 around in the same role that the iPad 9 played for an extended period of time. The stunt they pulled on SE to 16e of being $150-200 more expensive isn't going to work. Apple Intelligence is lots of hypetrain aspects of it that doesn't play well in price sensitive product categories . Even iPad 11 may not get A17 Pro ( or about as relatively expensive A18 ).
So far C1 has not proven to be correlated with more affordable at all.
The way that sentence was structured in the article, I read that as it’s what Mac Rumors are saying, rather than Apple 🤔
If Apple have already tested it in many countries and with lots of carriers, that would include the speeds. Possibly MR writing it in a confusing way. Anyone on staff able to clarify?
What does the Apple TV need with a cellular modem? Or most iPads? Not all the S10 watches have modems.
The other tension is that the A-series (and M-series) dies aren't really getting smaller with the process shrinks. ( In fact grew larger A14-16 sequence ) . If same 'pack more transistors into same size die' pressure occurs on modems as track Gen 6 and up it can be an counter force issue (for a fixed width logic board for a phone).
Probably the worst take on the whole comment thread
It isn't an "Intel" modem. The last two modems Intel attempted used Intel fab tech. Exceedingly doubtful that this modem is being implemented on Intel 4 and Intel 7 tech. More likely TSMC N4 and probably N7. So the implementation is going to be different ( even if tried to re-issue the same thing ... which not. Those Intel era modems are also 4-5 years old at this point. )
Apple bought the Intel division who were making these modems. Just because TSMC makes them now, doesn't change that the underlying tech is from Intel.
Wasn’t there an article the other day about star link and iPhones using them for text messaging in emergency’s?
Could that mean in time with these modems you could get full connection to these for full internets etc ?
Could that mean in time with these modems you could get full connection to these for full internets etc ?
So, after buying the division six years ago they took the Intel 5G modem, which they had just rejected as being unfit for purpose, and sat on their thumbs all this time, except for porting to TSMC? I don’t know how good or bad this modem is going to be, we will see… but I’m willing to believe a whole lot has changed from the rejected Intel 5G modem. Sure, there may be some Intel tech but it’s a different product now.
TFTFY. If you want to complain you might as well go back all the way
This was more of a function of the cellular market, where you can only have a phone on a network with carrier permission. Apple was negotiating an entirely different business model where the carrier provided a premium connectivity package but got no cut of app/music sales, and even was cut out of the lucrative ringtone market. Originally this was justified by having the phone bought outright without any carrier subsidies (in the markets like the US that heavily subsidized phones at the time).
Apple also required additional infrastructure to support these phones; they needed to be able to get direct internet access rather than going through infrastructure like WAP gateways, and needed supporting services like Visual Voicemail.
As a result of the partnership, the launch carriers had exclusivity deals in their home countries for many years - for instance the iPhone didn't have a second US carrier until 2011 with Verizon.
The modem is the only interesting part of the 16e. It could be a phone for me but I am still waiting for 17 Pro max or Watch Ultra 3. Look how fast the M chips and the first A chips progressed. Next step is probably BT, Wifi and UWB on the same package. Will it be better then Broadcom and Qualcomm offerings? Maybe not. But its a start. I eagerly waiting for the tests and what else they may bring later down the road. Mostly a C chip for the Watch.
I will complain with my wallet. I'm not going to pay flagship prices for an iPhone 17 Pro Max without a flagship Qualcomm modem.
Intel modems don't belong on flagship phones. Qualcomm does.
I'm glad you made this statement while the markets are closed in the US.
Most of us recognise the more control Apple has over the entire technology stack, the better the overall experience for consumers. I see Qualcomm as an Android company. They'll no doubt collect some royalties from Apple off their patents, but I'm glad we're moving away from them. This will be another long-term win for Apple in striving for tech excellence and independence.
This is all very good stuff, but it definitely smacks of introspection and selective optimisation that we've come to expect from apple. The average user doesn't care that apple makes their own modems, but it does make the product more vertical, more-in house and presumably allows marginal profit increases in the future.
I know it's a meme at this point but an apple announcement of something exciting for owners2 would be great.
I know it's a meme at this point but an apple announcement of something exciting for owners2 would be great.
No one outside the us will miss not having mmWave as it’s not available so not a big deal
I see it as allowing rival networks time to build up their network's 3G & 4G infrastructure
mmWave is a dud, and even Verizon admitted the defeat by no longer requiring mmWave to get certified for their network
That particular division went from Infineon to Intel to Apple. Apple used to use Infineon modems in early iPhones