Apple’s next-generation C2 modem will provide support for 5G satellite connectivity for this year’s iPhone 18 Pro models, based on claims made by a Chinese leaker.
In a post on Weibo, Fixed Focus Digital said that Apple’s C2 baseband modem — expected to debut on iPhone 18 Pro models — will support the NR-NTN, or New Radio Non-Terrestrial Networking, standard.
The NR-NTN standard can relate to direct phone-to-satellite links as well as the use of satellites as backhaul networks for telecom companies to expand coverage in remote areas. Relying on machine translation, the leaker seems to indicate that Apple’s implementation will allow iPhones to connect directly to satellites to access the Internet.
This is not the first time we have heard rumors that the iPhone 18 Pro will support 5G connectivity via satellite. However, it is the first time that NR-NTN support has been explicitly tied to Apple’s C2 modem as a technical specification for its baseband stack.
Last October, The Information’s Wayne Ma reported that Apple plans to add support in iPhones as early as this year for non-terrestrial 5G networks, which include satellites. This will reportedly give the iPhone full access to satellite internet.
Then in November, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman pointed to a report and said Apple was developing a 5G satellite for this year’s iPhones, allowing devices to leverage cell towers to use satellites to increase coverage when standard networks aren’t available. It should be noted that Gorman’s report describes satellite backhaul support for carrier networks, not the direct device-to-satellite model suggested by the latest Fixed Focus Digital leak and report.
According to Gorman, Apple is also working on several additional satellite features, including an application programming interface (API) to allow developers to add satellite communications to third-party apps, satellite-enabled Apple Maps, and support for imagery in satellite messages. Apple also aims to eliminate the need to physically point the device at the sky, allowing the satellite to remain connected with the device in your pocket or even indoors.
It’s unclear at what stage of development these other features are, and there’s a good chance they’re not related to Apple’s initial adoption of 5G satellite connectivity this year. Bringing many of these features to market will also require significant upgrades to Globalstar’s legacy satellite infrastructure, which Apple currently relies on.
Apple’s current satellite features on iPhone 14 models and later are limited to Emergency SOS, Find My, messaging, and roadside assistance. These features require that you have a clear view of the sky for direct satellite communication.
Previous reports indicate that the C2 modem will be more capable than the current C1 and C1X. The C2 may feature mmWave 5G connectivity, for example, and would likely be closer in performance to the Qualcomm modem chipset it will replace. Fixed Focus Digital had previously revealed news before the launch about the name of the iPhone 16e, the successor to the upcoming iPhone SE from Apple.
