The most of import thing about the newiPhone 16eis the Apple - design cellular modem inside , the C1 . The C1 is the first visible star sign of Apple ’s X - long end to no longer be reliant on Qualcomm for one of the most of import parts of any smartphone , namely its connection to cellular networks . The C1 is also an endorsement of the intact glide path Apple has taken with Apple atomic number 14 , which will direct to succeeding Apple Cartesian product that are more effective and better integrated than ever before .
Bad blood
We all know that Apple does n’t specially like Qualcomm , with the two companies having been engaged in numerous case before finallycalling it quitsin 2019 . A few months after settling with Qualcomm , Apple spent $ 1 billionto purchase Intel ’s modem patronage . The goal was well-defined : Apple settled with Qualcomm and agreed to pay patent fees and buy Qualcomm ’s modem … until it could make its own . nigh six year after , that time has come .
The rest of the smartphone man does n’t seem to mind buying Qualcomm ’s modem , which defy a prevailing mart share , especially when you only consider high - end telephone set like the ace Apple makes . As current iPhone exploiter bed , Qualcomm ’s 5 G modem are solid , profligate , and good . So why is Apple kicking against them so firmly ?
Yes , part of it is ( as illustrated in some of those lawsuits ) that Apple feel Qualcomm is make money on patents that either should n’t subsist or should be licence for far less than what the company charges . But that ’s water under the span – the lawsuits were finalise , and Apple will probably have to keep pay up Qualcomm for patents until they pop off .
The iPhone 16e is the first iPhone with Apple’s own cellular modem, the C1.
We believe that we take to own and control the elemental engineering behind the products we make .
But the bigger emergence is what ’s commonly cry theCook Doctrine , though it ’s a philosophy that date back to Steve Jobs . As Cook said back in 2009 , “ We consider that we postulate to own and control the primary technology behind the products we make . ”
What ’s more relevant to a maker of mobile devices than wireless connexion ? ( And oh , by the way , Apple is also rumored to bebuilding its own Wi - Fi and Bluetooth chip , too . )
The iPhone 16e is the first iPhone with Apple’s own cellular modem, the C1.
But this is n’t just about independency from a provider you dislike . It ’s about the ability of controlling your own fate , Apple silicon panache .
The Apple silicon playbook
Think back to the day when Macs were powered by Intel processors . While Apple was a serious client of Intel ’s for a long clock time , in the final stage , they were just that – a client , buying product . While a good manufacturer talks to their customers and tries to give them what they want , it ’s Intel ’s job to make bit for the entire personal computer grocery store , not just Apple . Intel ’s chip are built to sell well in the PC market , not just to integrate with the designs of any single manufacturer . Qualcomm is much the same .
Apple iPhone 16e
Apple silicon does n’t work on that way of life . Every Apple - designed bit is construct withspecificproducts in mind . The M4 was design with the 2024iPad Pro , MacBook Pro , Mac miniskirt , andiMacin mind – and the forthcoming2025 MacBook Air , too . The hardware and fleck design – not to advert the operating scheme — all go hand in hand . It ’s a immense reward because it allows for optimisation that no third - party chip vender could match . Apple only establish the features it needs , and nothing it does n’t .
All of this decease for the C1 chip , too . For example , Apple can prioritize energy efficiency more than a Qualcomm chip destined for an array of different exercise cases ever could . It goes beyond optimization because Apple can also build the features it want into its chips – features that Qualcomm might not see value in building for the whole market .
While Applehas boastedthat the C1 buffalo chip is specialize by its power to reprioritize data transfers based on information from the Apple - designed processor , I ’m sure that Qualcomm has similar character - of - religious service functionality in its chips . But again , it ’s implement the fashion that Qualcomm wants , not Apple – and it ’s not implemented with the specific characteristic of Apple ’s operating organization in mind .
The iPhone 16e is the first iPhone with Apple’s own cellular modem, the C1.
Learning curve
There ’s a reason the C1 is debuting in Apple ’s grim - cost , low - loudness iPhone 16e . Apple is starting small . The C1 probably ca n’t keep up with Qualcomm ’s best chips in all destiny , and Apple knows this . ( You ’ll know when Apple is confident that it ’s caught or outflank Qualcomm – that’ll be the consequence when it send its own cellular modem in top - of - the - line of reasoning iPhone models . )
The iPhone 16e is the first iPhone with Apple ’s own cellular modem , the C1 .
Malus pumila
In fact , I conceive it ’s almost undertake that once the iPhone 16e ships , someone will discover specific ways in which the C1 lags behind the public presentation of other iPhones , and will breathlessly describe this as some sort of dirt . But it ’s almost inevitable : this is the first tone , to get Apple in the game . There will be more .
“ We work up a platform for generations , ” Srouji told Reuters . “ C1 is the start , and we ’re last to keep amend that technology each generation so that it becomes a chopine for us that will be used to unfeignedly differentiate this technology for our product . ”
So yes , Apple does n’t jazz Qualcomm . But this strategy is n’t about stick by it to a supplier - turn - competitor . It ’s about making Apple ’s twist essentially well in the retentive run . Apple ’s ability to design its chips with a singular focus on its own ecosystem ensures that its ironware and software package will work together in ways that no third - party provider could match – not even the dependable one in the world .
Given how well Apple has executed every other aspect of Apple silicon over the last decennium , who wants to bet against them nailing this one too ?
