Per Apple, it's "the first modem designed by Apple." Given that all previous iPhones also had some sort of modem chip inside — for example, the iPhone 16 sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon X71M — it's easy to overlook the C1 as just another chip that makes the iPhone do basic iPhone stuff like connecting to the internet.

Phone 17 5G modems will be made by MediaTek, as Apple moves away from Qualcomm. Future iPhones will use Apple's solutions instead.

Apple's new C1 modem in the iPhone 16e is just the "start," according to the company's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji. "C1