For the longest time ever, Apple has relied on Qualcomm for its cellular modems. But as we have seen in the past few years, Apple is slowly transitioning away from it. Now, there is more evidence to suggest that the iPhone 18 Pro could ditch Qualcomm for Apple’s own cellular modem.
iPhone 18 Pro to use Apple cellular modem
This is actually not the first time we heard the rumors that Apple could use its own cellular modem for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. However, rumors are rumors, but like we said, there is evidence to suggest this could actually be true. This is according to an interview Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon did with Reuters.
During the interview, Amon said he “expects revenue from Apple products to decline more quickly starting in the fourth quarter as supply constraints reduce its share of components used in the next iPhone launch to well below its earlier estimate of 20%.”
But why is this significant? This is because based on past rumors, Apple isn’t ditching Qualcomm completely. It seems that Apple’s C2 modems aren’t quite up to par yet with Qualcomm. As a result, the company is expected to split its cellular plans based on region. The US is expected to use Qualcomm’s modems, while the rest of the world gets the C2 modem.
Based on that, Amon’s comments make a lot of sense.
Is this good news?
Modems aren’t really components we see or necessarily interact with, unlike a display or camera. But they’re obviously very important. So the question is, with the rumors suggesting the C2 isn’t as good as Qualcomm’s, should we be worried? That might depend on how you see it.
According to the rumors, the C2 modem is expected to introduce a privacy perk. This comes in the form of a “Limit Precise Location” setting. For those who are uncomfortable that your location might be tracked via cellular towers, this feature could limit that. So instead of giving your carriers a more precise location, it might only give them an approximate location.
We’ve also heard rumors that the C2 could support NR-NTN (New Radio Non-Terrestrial Networks). This will allow for 5G connectivity via satellite, giving the phones a bit more functionality in emergency situations compared to the current Emergency SOS feature.
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