Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at Hong Kong-based Tianfeng International Securities, claims Apple is working on developing its own 5G data chips.Apple C1The "upgraded version" will further improve power consumption and transmission speed, and will even support millimeter wave connection specifications.
Based on the current design, the baseband portion of the Apple C1 is manufactured using TSMC's 4nm process, essentially the same process used by Qualcomm's previously launched Snapdragon X75. The RF transceiver front-end is manufactured using TSMC's 7nm process. While the overall power consumption performance isn't high, Apple clearly hopes to further reduce the power consumption of its in-house 5G networking data chip.
In addition, Apple C1 currently does not support millimeter wave bands, so the next upgraded version will add support for millimeter wave band connection specifications to correspond to higher data transmission speeds. It is expected to be launched next year and will be used in iPhone models.
However, according to Ming-Chi Kuo, the Apple C1 is still being produced using a different process technology. Given the current state of the design, it seems Apple will not yet be using a 3nm or higher process for its 5G data chip. While Apple is expected to consider integrating the 5G data chip with the processor, this seems to be some time away.
Relevant news indicates that Apple will launch a 2026G networking data chip that supports millimeter waves as early as 5. It may be named Apple C2 and will be used in iPhone models launched next year. It may also be used in iPad models to be updated next year.
Although Apple has used Apple C1 in the iPhone 16e, the new iPad Air launched earlier with an M3 processor did not follow suit and adopt Apple C1.
Apple's C1 modem process technology:
– Baseband: 4/5nm (both technologies are similar)
– Low-frequency/Sub-6 TRx (Transceivers): 7nm
– Intermediate Frequency (IF) TRx: 7 nm
– PMIC: 55nmThe C1 refreshed version is under development for mass production next year, aiming to improve…
- ing 錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 6, 2025
