Apple and Qualcomm's relationship has been strained for a decade and the iPhone 16e C1 chip is Apple's first move to cut ties once and for all.

It took Apple a big acquisition and many years, but it finally developed a modem worth replacing Qualcomm's with — what does that mean for Android?

At the heart of the system, the C1 (Cellular 1) chip first appears in the iPhone 16e. It is also expected to debut in other Apple devices in the coming months and will likely see use across all or most of the iPhone range by this time next year. Apple calls it “the most power efficient modem ever in an iPhone.”