Back in February 2025, Apple launched the iPhone 16e with its first-ever in-house network and connectivity modem, the Apple C1. It was followed by the C1X 5G modem with the iPhone Air. Now, it looks like the Cupertino brand plans to continue the trend with the iPhone 17e and iPhone 18 Pro as well.
iPhone 17e and iPhone 18 Pro to use in-house 5G modem
Tech publication MacRumours spotted an internal code inside the Kernel Debut Kit for macOS, which hinted at the 5G modem for the iPhone 17e and the iPhone 18 Pro. According to that, it seems like Apple is planning to repurpose the first-gen C1 5G modem for its next budget iPhone.
If true, this will mean that in terms of 5G capabilities, the iPhone 16e and the iPhone 17e will be identical. As for the iPhone 18 Pro, it is said to either make use of the C1X modem found inside the iPhone Air or will be fitted with the third-generation in-house 5G modem, the Apple C2.
While these details are not confirmed yet, it does seem like a strange choice. To begin with, the iPhone 18 Pro is expected to become the first Pro model iPhone to ditch Qualcomm's 5G modem. Hence, to do that, firstly Apple needs to add mmWave support which the current modems lack and ensure strong enough performance to replace the current Snapdragon X80 5G modem. Hence, the obvious choice for iPhone 18 Pro seems to be the upcoming AppleC2.
Also, for the iPhone 17e, the adoption of C1X 5G will be a natural progression. The report further states that the next budget iPhone will also miss out on the Apple N1 network chip which brings Threads support.
So, the choices that Apple is seemingly making for the upcoming iPhones seem rather peculiar. However, since these details were derived from the internal source code, we can expect them to change in the future. That said, with the iPhone 17e tentatively launching in Q1 2026 and the iPhone 18 Pro is Spring 2026, we will know for sure what the new iPhones have in store.
