iPhone 16E: Apple C1 is a 4nm modem with its own RF transceiver 69 comments
Bild: Apple
The iPhone 16e is the first Apple-Martphone in which with the Apple C1 A separate mobile phone modem is used. In order to break away from Qualcomm, billion-dollar investments and the takeover of Intel’s fashion store were necessary. The result is a 4nm modem with its own particularly efficient RF transceiver.
Considering the development effort and the time until integration in the iPhone 16E, this would have Apple C1 in the 12:49 minute presentation of the smartphone gains more time than a mere 20-second mention. What Apple So that only a few competitors such as Qualcomm, MediaTek, Samsung and Huawei are currently creating on their feet, which are also developing their own modems.
In 2019, Intel’s fashion business started Apple
Intel was once a colleague in this segment and even suppliers for Apple-But the fashion sector, including important patents, launched in 2019 for $ 1 billion Apple. At the latest this takeover, the foundation stone for the own modem development should be Apple have been. Since then, many billions have flowed into the program, also because there are many employees from the competition to strengthen their own modem team.
Apple C1 is a 4nm modem
The first harvest of this seed is now that Apple C1, the first specially developed mobile phone modem. This is a chip manufactured in 4nm, as Johny Sroouji, senior vice president of hardware technologies, told Reuters. According to previous rumors, this should Apple-Mem-MC can be manufactured.
According to Srouji, C1 is just the beginning as technology wants to improve technology with each generation to develop a differentiated platform for your own products. This seems a bit nebulous, but already suggests that the iPhone 16E won’t be finished. In conversation with Reuters Wanted Apple Do not respond to Qualcomms modems completely out of the Apple-Portfolio will disappear. However, it is obvious that Apple’s own modems will be used in the future. Apple-Martphones and potentially also devices such as the MacBook will be used.
Own RF transceiver from 7nm production
Strictly speaking Apple With the C1 not only developed a new chip, with its own RF transceiver from 7nm production, but it made another important component of internal development in the iPhone 16E. An RF transceiver (radio frequency transmitter/receiver) is a chip that receives radio signals from antennas, filters, enhances, adjusts and converts to lower frequencies for further processing. In the opposite direction, language and data are converted into a mobile phone signal, strengthened and broadcast over the antennas.
The chips had to be tested in the networks of 180 network operators in 55 countries, says Sroouji. However, Apple’s goal was not to meet the specifications of competitors’ chips, but to develop a solution specifically for the requirements of Apple’s products. For example, Arun Mathias, VP Wireless Software, mentions a capacity-constrained network in which the processor can tell the modem which data should be prioritized, so the smartphone can act more quickly from the user’s perspective.
No feature parity with Qualcomm
The Apple In addition to mobile communications, C1 is also responsible for location tracking and satellite connections for emergency AppleSOS in emergency situations, as can be seen in the conversation with Reuters. Feature parity with the Qualcomms modem has Apple but not yet achieved, although that Apple was not the goal. The C1 lacks support for millimeter wave spectrum (MMWAVE), which is offered in the United States, particularly in city centers as additional spectrum for more capacity and particularly high transmission rates. It is also unclear what types of carrier aggregation (CA) Apple Supports, in which the combination, low, mid and high band frequencies can be combined.
Topics: 5G
Apple
Apple Silicon Internet iPhone LTE Mobile Phone Smartphones Source: Reuters
Sarah tracks innovations in smartphones, evaluating their performance, design, and key features.
