The C1 chip, Apple’s inaugural modem, has one significant drawback: it lacks support for the ultra-fast mmWave 5G technology.
While I believed at the time that this omission was not particularly concerning due to the limited carrier rollout, it appears there may be a specific rationale behind this choice…
Development of the C1 Chip Took Several Years
With Apple’s prowess for designing Mac chips that have outpaced Intel’s offerings, one might assume that creating a radio chip would be a straightforward task. In truth, it’s a far more complex endeavor due to the intricate nature of mobile data standards, and here are three reasons why.
Firstly, mobile standards differ worldwide, and a chip designed for global use must accommodate all of them.
Secondly, even within a single country, various carriers often present their own versions of mobile data standards, which Apple must also support.
Lastly, apart from complying with every variation of all current standards globally, a radio chip must accommodate all previous standards as well. For instance, if 5G is unavailable, the chip should seamlessly switch to 4G. This necessitates handling every variation of every generation in every country.
This complexity results in a modem specification list like this:
- 5G NR (Bands n1, n2, n3, n5, n7, n8, n12, n20, n25, n26, n28, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n53, n66, n70, n75, n76, n77, n78, n79)
- FDD‑LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 30, 32, 66)
- TD‑LTE (Bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 53)
- UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
- GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
- 5G (sub-6GHz) with 4×4 MIMO
- Gigabit LTE with 4×4 MIMO
- Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 2×2 MIMO
- Bluetooth 5.3
- NFC with reader mode
- Express Cards with Power Reserve
Apple Made Two Major Trade-offs
Prior to the launch, it was anticipated that Apple would be making certain compromises with the initial iteration of the chip, and this proved to be accurate.
Specifically, Apple decided against incorporating support for mmWave 5G and opted to restrict Wi-Fi support to Wi-Fi 6 instead of Wi-Fi 7.
Kuo States Power Considerations Led to the Omission of mmWave 5G
One of the primary advantages of the C1 chip highlighted by Apple is its significantly lower power consumption compared to the Qualcomm modem chips it replaces.
This, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, is the reason behind the omission of mmWave 5G support at this stage.
While enabling mmWave support isn’t particularly difficult, maintaining stable performance with reduced power consumption remains a critical challenge.
However, he notes that the company is actively working on addressing this issue, and the next iteration will include support for the standard.
The refreshed version of the C1 chip is currently under development, with mass production anticipated next year, aiming to enhance power efficiency, transmission speeds, and mmWave support.
Image: Apple
