Apple is on a mission to develop more of its silicon in-house: Here’s what’s next

In 2020, Apple announced the Mac transition to Apple Silicon. Replacing Intel was a large undertaking, but it proved successful. Apple was able to develop chips that were both faster and more efficient than the Intel processors they replaced, all in an under 3 year transition. Now, Apple is trying to replace Qualcomm, starting off with the new C1 modem in the brand new iPhone 16e, it’s the first step in a much larger journey. In the end, Apple wants all networking to be handled in-house. Future C2 and C3 modems Apple’s first C1 modem, which debuted in iPhone 16e last month, is more focused on efficiency. It doesn’t support 5G mmWave, and doesn’t support all of the same wavelengths as the existing Qualcomm modems. It’s still pretty performant according to tests, but it isn’t the best of the best. That’s why this C1 modem isn’t making its way to most of the iPhone 17 lineup, though it will likely appear in the iPhone 17 Air – where its efficiency gains will be important for such a th ... Read full article.