I’ve gone over the data, the iPhone 18 Pro is worth the wait if you care about having the best 5G experience

With the iPhone 16e, Apple introduced its in-house cellular modem, named C1. This chip was the beginning of a massive undertaking: reducing, if not outright eliminating, the company’s reliance on Qualcomm’s modems.

The why is easy to answer, Apple doesn’t want to keep paying Qualcomm fees to use its chips across its flagship smartphones. But there’s another reason too, if Apple can perfect an in-house modem to the level that it has perfected the Apple silicon processors, then future iPhone models and other devices will be much better off for it.

So what’s the consensus on the company’s own modem chips as of now? How has the C1 and its successor fared? What can we expect now that reports are claiming that Apple will use its own modems across the iPhone 18 series as well?

Long story short, it’s pretty good news.

Apple has already improved drastically

The C1 chip fell short of its Qualcomm counterparts. Apple knew it would, hence why it only used it across its mid-range iPhone. You could say it was a test run of sorts.

After the C1 came the C1X, which was found in the super slim iPhone Air. To say that the company had leaped forward a couple of generations in this one iteration wouldn’t be an understatement, in my opinion. The C1X is a fantastic chip and it gives the Qualcomm X80 a run for its money.

In testing, Apple’s new modem fared excellently against the aforementioned Qualcomm X80, which was used across the iPhone 17 lineup. Leaving the C1 in the dust, the C1X pretty much matched the Qualcomm X80 in each metric that was tested. The minor difference in performance was so negligible that no average user is ever going to notice it.

And guess what. Reports indicate that Apple is planning to use its own modem in the upcoming iPhone 18 series. Not the C1X, but a potential C2 chip instead.

The trend is clear

When Apple switched the MacBook away from Intel chips to its in-house M1 processor, it completely revolutionized the Mac lineup. From being overpriced and underpowered machines to becoming ridiculously powerful workhorses that justified their price tags, Apple silicon was groundbreaking.

Keeping in mind how each generation of Apple’s M-series and A-series chips have improved — with the MacBook Neo literally running on an iPhone processor — it’s pretty clear to me that the C2 will be superb. Not just in terms of the metrics tested by Ookla, but also in other ways.

The iPhone 18 Pro will rock the boat

I believe that the C2 chip might even outperform its Qualcomm equivalent, but that’s not the only reason that it will make the iPhone 18 series even better. The other reason is the same as it was when Apple silicon first made its way to the MacBook: battery life.