iPhone 18 Pro debuts with C2 baseband: supports 5G satellite connectivity.
Apple plans to debut its highly anticipated self-developed baseband chip C2 in the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, which will be launched this fall. This move marks the official exit of Qualcomm baseband chips from Apple phones.
According to reports, the development of Apple’s C2 baseband chip began intensively shortly after the release of the iPhone 16e last year. Compared to its predecessor, the most significant upgrade of this chip is its full support for millimeter wave and sub-6GHz networks.
More importantly, it introduces support for NR-NTN technology. This is a revolutionary communication standard that allows iPhones to connect directly to satellites to access the internet even without traditional base station signals.
With the rollout of this technology, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be among the world’s first smartphones to support this new satellite connectivity mode. Simply put, the combination of Apple’s C2 baseband and the NR-NTN standard is seen by the industry as a major revolution in 5G satellite connectivity technology, completely breaking down geographical limitations on communication.
Looking back, Apple introduced satellite communication capabilities starting with the iPhone 14 series. However, under the conditions at that time, this feature was mainly used for emergency rescue, allowing users in remote areas to send messages and contact the outside world via satellite. The upcoming 5G satellite connectivity is completely different; it utilizes a vast low-Earth orbit satellite infrastructure to fill the gaps in terrestrial cellular networks.
In practical use, the iPhone 18 Pro series will be able to treat each operational low-Earth orbit satellite as a regular mobile base station. This means users can not only send distress signals, but also browse the web or send and receive emails as usual even in remote areas, achieving true all-scenario internet access.
However, it should be noted that due to local laws and regulations and the coverage of satellite operators, this powerful feature will only be available in select regions initially. According to current supply chain information, the United States and Canada are highly likely to be among the first regions to support 5G satellite internet access.
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