With the iPhone 16th, Apple gave a silencer, but firm Go to its technological independence. He did it with the C1 chip, a 5G modem which is already historic for the simple fact of being the first to sign the company itself. However, marks a promising future and the end of a turbulent relationship with Qualcomm. It is the fruit of many years of effort and disgusted. And also money. Of a lot of money.
“Why doesn't the iPhone have 5G?”
This question which seems absurd today, because the whole iPhone has this connectivity, was most normal before 2020, the year during which the iPhone 12, the first of Apple with 5G was released. This was the event that they did not hesitate to repeat “5G” in the presentation. There have been about three hundred times and infinite more than times.
Apple was late for 5G. At least, if we look at their competitors, which would have been loved. In 2019, Samsung was one of the first to launch aircraft with this connectivity and did it by Qualcomm, a company which previously had already presented the foundations of the first modem which would allow 5 g.
Qualcomm and Apple, who had known very good relations years ago, had been immersed in an unprecedented legal battle. All at the expense of certain fees that Apple claimed them in 2017. The story was tangled and was deemed parallel for other complaints, this time by Qualcomm towards Apple, accusing the signing of the flight block of commercial secrets.
For business lawyers, it had to be something traumatic, but believe us if we also tell you for technological journalists that we have already covered Apple at that time. And, far from being a little lower, This dispute supposed to have an iPhone lower than the competition in terms of connectivity. In addition to having to wear 4G for not having concluded agreements with Qualcomm, it was a 4G which was already behind the being of previous generations.
In early May 2019, peace was sealed. Apple and Qualcomm concluded a millionaire agreement which ended the judicial journey of the two companies. $ 4.7 billion allowed the iPhone to finally take the 5G of Qualcomm. Of course, given the dates of the agreement, they did not arrive in time to integrate them into the iPhone 11 which would be launched that year, but already by 2020 with the aforementioned iPhone 12.
“I steal it and I like it”
This had to think of Apple Park's offices because of these judicial disputes, they came late for connectivity which is already present and at that time distilled. Although they have already planned it before.
Apple has always been a very closed development company, always prioritizing be the absolute owners of the materialTrying to cover the maximum possible responsibility concerning the design of each key component. With the iPhone, they have already done so since 2010, the year they launched the iPhone 4 with the Apple A4.
Intel was essential in the development of Apple 5G modems
He had to take another step and the pair they continued to transport Qualcomm modems, already with 5G, in parallel were Develop your own modems. To do this, they could not start from zero in development and in August 2019, it was confirmed that Apple had acquired the 5G of the Intel division. It was for a figure nearly $ 1,000 million and with him, they managed to take with them the knowledge, the patents and the Intel team who had been working there for years.
A tortuous road, but with a happy ending
While Apple continued with Qualcomm on the devices after the iPhone 12, and including the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, as well as the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, The road to C1 was not precisely easy. As Melody would say, it was rather a garden full of thorns and roses. More thorns than roses, in fact.
Despite the knowledge acquired with Intel, Apple had to face Technical challenges and development problemslargely linked by defects in terms of energy consumption, network stability or compatibility of global standards. A series of setbacks which forced them to delay their launch dates of the C1, initially fixed by 2023.
Already in 2025, after all these years, Apple was able to launch the C1 modem with the iPhone 16th. And although it is true that He has a few gaps Like incompatibility with 5G MMWABE, which prevents it from reaching 1 GBPS connections, has extras against Qualcomm, such as the stability of connections or their energy efficiency.
This last point, that we had already warned that it was one of the most complicated to make by Apple, may be The great asset presented by the C1 for the iPhone 16th. This is the advantage that it provides for this terminal which has reached the autonomy of two hours greater than that of the iPhone 16.
The first step towards a complete division of fleas
Already leading the design of its SoC, including Mac with Apple silicon, Apple is heading to a future in which they are the owners and lords of all connectivity components. The modem is already a successful land demonstrated in the absence of improvement and it is expected that the C1, or rather an improved version of it, begins with the iPhone 17 series in September.
In this next Apple technological revolution, there will also be a place for other components. Leaks indicate that, in addition to evolving Modem 5G, the Californian company He is close to new Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips With the idea of reducing his dependence dependent as Broadcom. However, yes, these cannot be seen on an iPhone before 2026.
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