But, according to Apple insider Mark Gurman, with next year’s flagships, Apple is bringing its in-house cellular chip to the Pro models as well. This will obviously not be the C1 modem, but rather the C2, or even the C3 if reports about the C2 being a test-only chip are accurate.
Whether Apple is able to bring up its performance to be on par with Qualcomm’s chips is completely up in the air for now, but there is almost certainly going to be another advantage.
With an in-house modem, Apple will be able to do what it already does with its A-series and M-series chips on its phones and MacBook laptops, respectively. The hardware and software synergy could be optimized to such an extent, that the iPhone 18 Pro may have slightly better battery life than it would have done with a Qualcomm chip.
The iPhone 18 Pro will also get the second gen Apple modem. This year’s Pro phones will use Qualcomm still. The slim phone though will use the first gen Apple modem, like the 16E. https://t.co/fhoI2CdIOu
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) August 24, 2025
While that extra boost wouldn’t really be too noticeable on the Pro models — Apple is fattening them up again for bigger batteries — it will still be a welcome addition. This is also why this year’s super slim iPhone 17 Air is expected to have Apple’s own modem as well, as it only has a battery capacity of 2,900 mAh.
And, even if the battery life isn’t a noticeable jump up for the consumer, Apple will definitely notice the reduction in manufacturing costs. Whether the company passes on those reductions to its users, however, remains to be seen.
“Iconic Phones” is coming this Fall!
Good news everyone! Over the past year we’ve been working on an exciting passion project of ours and we’re thrilled to announce it will be ready to release in just a few short months.
