Apple’s iPhone 17 lineup starts shipping this Friday, which means the rumor mill for next year’s iPhones is going to start churning. We’ve already heard reports that 2026 could mark the debut for Apple’s folding iPhone, and now we’re hearing details on what could be inside it and the other phones in the lineup.
According to the Commercial Times, the C2 modem will be used in “next year’s high-end iPhone 18,” but no details are offered about the C2’s specifications. The C2 will make its debut along with the A20 chip, which will be created with a 2nm process. The Commercial Times reports that the M6 chip for the Mac and the R2 chip for the Apple Vision Pro will also be 2nm chips.
Apple introduced the C1X modem with the iPhone Air, which the company said is “up to 2x faster” than the C1 modem that is in the iPhone 16e. Apple also claims that the C1X is faster than the modem in the iPhone 16 lineup while also being 30 percent more power efficient.
The C1 and C1X lack support for mmWave, which will likely be included in the C2 modem. The Commercial Times reports that the C2 will be used in the “high-end iPhone 18,” which could reference any number of phones, including the iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Pro models, as well as the heavily rumored folding iPhone. That would leave the 17e and Air with a C1X or some other variant.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.