Without being there, Apple hits Mobile World Congress

If you overlook the introduction of the iPhone 16e with its own Apple-designed 5G modem along with the release of new iPads, Macs and processors, you might argue that Apple didn’t make an impression at this year’s Mobile World Congress. However, it clearly did, as — thanks to rumors from two of the world’s most well-connected Apple bloggers — its mobile plans are casting a large shadow across the industry.

These plans seem to involve the rapid development of faster and more performant mobile processors, intense effort to bring highly competitive and very fast 5G modems to market, platform-wide implementation of artificial intelligence, and whispers of new mobile devices. The latter include the first ever Apple foldable iPhone and a super-thin model expected this year.

All of these solutions will be supported by the company’s other products and services, giving Apple the kind of integration between mobile and other devices most other hardware vendors can’t even dream of. Even if the 5G modem doesn’t quite match up to everything Qualcomm’s modems currently promise, the additional benefits of platform integration could yet make up the gap. 

But with incumbents in the mobile space working feverishly to bring networked services, including 5G-based services, to market, the importance of the Apple modem cannot be underestimated. Will carriers be able to use these chips to deliver private 5G services effectively? Will Apple look to deploy its software development talents to create systems enterprise developers can use to craft bespoke network services for clients? Will Apple seek to make its unique 5G modem a technology to enable further digital transformation?

Those are the kinds of questions people attending MWC this week may have been talking about. It matters that the C1 modem appeared in the week before the event. The speculation driving the conversation at this year’s show included:

Out of the shadows

We know, because Apple told us, that the company has a road map for C1 development.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has added a little more flesh to help us see what those plans may involve. In a post, he says Apple is working to upgrade the C1 next year, likely with the introduction of support for mmWave 5G (which is important in the US and a few other places). The current chip only supports the slightly slower (but far more widely used) sub-6GHz band. The analyst says the main challenge Apple is trying to solve is to build reliable and power efficient tech to support the band.

The idea here is that reception will be consistent and battery life not impacted. Kuo also says the C1 will be used in some additional products, but that Apple won’t put its own modem inside all the iPhones it sells until 2026. We don’t yet know what Apple plans for the C2, but what Kuo has been able to tell us suggests that reliability and energy consumption will remain critical pillars in what it does do.

Under the fold

As tariffs, frightening surveillance plans from an increasingly conflict-obsessed UK at war with its own poorest citizens, and regulation of its business, weigh down Apple’s stock performance, it’s not a big surprise that the pace of Apple rumors is accelerating. When it comes to a folding iPhone (in development for years), the latest claims are that Apple’s foldable device will be slim, fast, and equipped with a fold you can barely see. That hinge will combine stainless steel and titanium alloy.

It will also be equipped with Apple Intelligence, including the situation-aware Apple AI the company seems to be having challenges getting to the mass market. That piece in this jigsaw is coming, however, which means the iPhone fold (and all iPhones) will soon be equipped with cross-app AI integration likely to amplify what you can do with these devices. Kuo also says the device will have a 7.8-in. display when unfolded, making it just slightly smaller than an iPad mini; MWC attendees can breathe a sigh of relief in that the Apple foldable isn’t likely to appear before the end of next year. 

In with the thin

We’ll see an iPhone 17 Air appear later on this year, Kuo claims. This will hold a super- high density battery for excellence in battery life and should be 5.44mm thin — thinner than any other smartphone. Speculation suggests it will use a C modem like the iPhone 16e, sport a 48MP camera, and use that super-fast A-series A17 chip, which is part of what enables Apple to make such thin devices.

Explode into space

Meanwhile, Apple’s work with GlobalStar continues, a space race that opens a new frontier in the mobile industry, support of which may really benefit from Apple’s control of modem production. In other words, once again, Apple doesn’t need to attend MWC to become talk of the town. The world’s leading handset vendor already is that.

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