Why Do U.S. Models of the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and Only U.S. Models of the 18 Pro Max, Use Qualcomm Cellular Modems Instead of Apple’s Own Superior C2 Modem?

Joe Rossignol at MacRumors over the weekend:

Apple now says the iPhone 18 Pro has a C2 modem worldwide, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max uses the chip in every country except for the U.S. Apple has yet to provide an explanation for this modem difference, so we can only speculate for now. In 2023, Qualcomm announced that it would supply Apple with smartphone modems through 2026, so perhaps Apple is equipping the U.S. version of the iPhone 18 Pro Max with a Qualcomm modem in order to honor this agreement in a minimum way. Apple’s C2 modem supports ultra-fast mmWave 5G in the U.S., unlike its previous-generation C1 and C1X modems. Qualcomm modems in the iPhone 12 and newer already supported mmWave 5G in the U.S., so Apple is playing catch up here. Apple said the C2 delivers “meaningfully faster uploads” compared to the C1X while consuming 15% less energy.

I’d say Apple played catch-up here, past tense. They caught up in terms of support for mmWave. And ever since the C1 first shipped with the iPhone 16e in early 2025, Apple has been noticeably ahead of Qualcomm on energy efficiency.

Apple isn’t explaining why the U.S. iPhone 18 Pro Max models are the only 18 Pro models worldwide using Qualcomm modems, but I think Rossignol’s explanation must basically be it: they needed to use it in some models in order to minimally comply with their 2023 contract with Qualcomm.

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