Technology glossary

Apple C1 modem

Apple’s first in-house cellular modem, first used in the iPhone 16e in February 2025.

Apple announced the C1 with the iPhone 16e on 19 February 2025 and called it “the most power-efficient modem ever on an iPhone”. Apple credits the 16e’s long battery life to the C1, its own chip designs and iOS power management working together.

The C1 supports 5G (sub-6 GHz) and Gigabit LTE with 4×4 MIMO. The iPhone 16e has no mmWave 5G; that band is used in some countries such as the US for very high short-range speeds.

The modem is the component that talks to the cellular network. Apple used Qualcomm modems in earlier iPhones; with the C1 it began moving this part to its own design.

Devices using this technology

Phones · 2025

Apple iPhone 16e

The iPhone 16e is the entry model Apple added to the iPhone 16 family in February 2025. It has the A18 chip, the C1 cellular modem (Apple’s first in-house design), a 6.1-inch OLED display and a single 48MP rear camera that provides 2x zoom from the same sensor. There is no ultra-wide camera or mmWave 5G; Apple lists no MagSafe, Qi2, Dynamic Island or ProMotion, and wireless charging is limited to Qi. In independent testing the battery lasted slightly longer than the iPhone 16; in carrier measurements the C1 modem was faster than the iPhone 16 on two US networks and slower on one. Owners praise battery life, the camera and the size; some miss an ultra-wide lens and a faster refresh rate.

Sources

  1. Apple Newsroom: Apple debuts iPhone 16e
  2. Apple Support: iPhone 16e technical specifications