No, the latest iPads from Apple do not feature the most recent modem — but that’s fine.
Fionna Agomuoh / Digital Trends
Apple introduced its custom C1 modem less than a month ago, featuring it in the iPhone 16e, and called it the "most power-efficient modem ever on an iPhone." This technology allows the 16e to achieve the longest battery life among all 6.1-inch iPhones; however, the newly announced iPads from Apple this week will not benefit from this advancement. After noticing questionable specifications on the new iPads, John Gruber reached out to an Apple representative, who confirmed that these devices do not utilize the C1 modem. This is not entirely surprising, as Mark Gurman from Bloomberg had mentioned in December that Apple was planning a "three-year rollout" for these modems, indicating that not every product would immediately adopt the new technology. Nonetheless, Gurman suggested that "lower-end" iPads would use the C1 in 2025, which now seems to be incorrect.
Apple's C1 modem aims to lessen the company's dependence on Qualcomm modems, though it is still uncertain if Apple's initial effort can compete with Qualcomm in terms of quality. While Apple made strong claims about power efficiency with the iPhone 16e, Gurman has indicated that we might not see the C1 in any "higher-end" devices for some time, implying that further enhancements are needed.
So, what implications does this have for the new iPads? They may not match the iPhone 16e in power efficiency, but Qualcomm modems have been effectively powering Apple products until now, so there likely won’t be any adverse effects. In a recent post on X, Ming-Chi Kuo mentioned that Apple is also developing an updated version of the C1 set for mass production next year. He stated that the company aims to enhance power consumption, transmission speed, and support for mmWave.
Apple's C1 modem process technology includes:
– Baseband: 4/5nm (both technologies are comparable)
– Low-frequency/Sub-6 TRx (Transceivers): 7nm
– Intermediate Frequency (IF) TRx: 7nm
– PMIC: 55nm
The refreshed version of the C1 is being developed for mass production next year, with improvements planned...
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 6, 2025
Willow Roberts has spent a year as a Computing Writer at Digital Trends and has been writing for nearly a decade.
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No, the latest iPads from Apple do not feature the most recent modem — but that’s fine.
It seems that the newest iPads do not feature Apple's new custom C1 modem, contrary to previous rumors implying they would.