With the C1 modem, Apple is confident it can finally beat Qualcomm at its own game.
The most important thing about the new iPhone 16e is the Apple-designed cellular modem inside, the C1. The C1 is the first visible sign of Apple's decade-long goal to no longer be reliant on Qualcomm for one of the most important parts of any smartphone, namely its connection to cellular networks. The C1 is also an endorsement of the entire approach Apple has taken with Apple silicon, which will lead to future Apple products that are more efficient and better integrated than ever before. Bad blood We all know that Apple doesn't particularly like Qualcomm, with the two companies having been engaged in numerous lawsuits before finally calling it quits in 2019. A few months after settling with Qualcomm, Apple spent $1 billion to buy Intel's modem business. The goal was clear: Apple settled with Qualcomm and agreed to pay patent fees and buy Qualcomm's modems… until it could make its own. Nearly six years later, that time has come. The rest of the smartphone world doesn't seem to mind buying Qualcomm's modems, which hold a dominant market share, especially when you only consider high-end phones like the ones Apple makes. As current iPhone users know, Qualcomm's 5G modems are solid, fast, and good. So why is Apple kicking against them so hard? Yes, part of it is (as illustrated in some of those lawsuits) that Apple feels Qualcomm is making money on patents that either shouldn't exist or should be licensed for far less than what the company charges. But that's water under the bridge–the lawsuits were settled, and Apple will probably have to keep paying Qualcomm for patents until they expire. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products we make. Tim Cook, January 2009 But the bigger issue is what's commonly called the Cook Doctrine, though it's a philosophy that dates back to Steve Jobs. As Cook said back in 2009, "We believe…