Apple announced the iPhone 16E earlier this week. As expected, the company’s latest budget smartphone has its first custom-designed modem chip, known as C1. However, this chip does not support ultra-fast mmwave 5G technology, showing that another upcoming iPhone model may also lack this capacity.
According to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, Ultra-Patli iPhone 17 Air, this decline is expected to be launched with the iPhone 17 lineup, the C1 chip is also likely to be included. This shows that it will also not support MMWave 5G.
What does this imply? While MMWAVE technology provides rapid data speed at short distances-Ideal-Sa-6GHz provides wide coverage for urban centers, which is still faster but slower than mmwave. Sub -6GHz technology, however, is a more widely used option globally.
The introduction of C1 chip tells us two major things. First of all, if the iPhone 17 uses this chip like Air iPhone 16E, it will not support mmwave. Second, this means that iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will continue to use a Qualcomm Modem Chip that supports both MMWave and Sub-6GHz.
Additionally, Gurman reported that Apple is already developing the second generation in -house modem with support for both sub -6GHz and MMWAVE technology. This new chip is expected to be included in the iPhone 18 lineup, which is expected to arrive in September 2026.
Does the MMWave deficiency of the C1 chip support an important issue? Not really, because it is largely irrelevant outside the US, where Apple currently sells only MMWave models. For more information about MMWAVE technology, see our primer from 2022.
The pre -order for the iPhone 16E will begin tomorrow, February 21, with the initial shipment a week later, is expected to come on February 28. The iPhone 17 Air, which is expected to replace the iPhone Plus in the iPhone 17 lineup, is expected to be Apple’s Apple. Thin iPhone so far. It is also predicted for the convenience of a new design that distinguishes it from the rest of the 2025 iPhone lineup.
