Qualcomm confirmed on July 29 that its Apple business is shrinking faster than planned, with its share of components in the next iPhone launch coming in well below 20%. That makes the rumored split modem setup on the iPhone 18 Pro Max harder to believe, which matters if you are shopping for the best iPhones this fall.
Qualcomm just told investors how little of the iPhone 18 it expects to supply
Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm, told Reuters in an interview after the company's third fiscal quarter earnings call on Wednesday (July 29) that revenue from Apple products will fall more quickly starting in the fourth quarter. He put it down to availability of supply rather than anything Apple did.
Qualcomm's phone chip business brought in $5.09 billion last quarter, down 20% from the same time a year ago. It also told investors the current quarter will be softer still.
We kind of replaced Apple with the data center.
Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm, in an interview with Reuters, July 29, 2026
Amon also pointed to where the company is heading instead, projecting $5 billion in data center revenue by fiscal 2027.
Which iPhone 18 Pro modem outcome would you want?
Why the split modem theory suddenly looks weaker
We covered the leaked Tata bill of materials last month, which pointed to Apple dual sourcing the iPhone 18 Pro modem, with its own C2 in most markets and a Qualcomm Snapdragon X80 plus an SDR875 transceiver in US models to keep mmWave 5G support.
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However, only three new iPhone models are expected this fall, and one of them sits at a price that will not make it a volume seller. If Qualcomm's component share is coming in well below 20%, it is difficult to see how the Pro and Pro Max could still be carrying Qualcomm modems here.
iPhone 17 Pro Max, the current Pro model shipping with a Qualcomm modem. | Image by PhoneArena
If you are on a Galaxy S26 Ultra, none of this affects you. Samsung's flagship handles mmWave through its Snapdragon modem and that is not in question.
What changes for you if the C2 ships everywhere
If Apple does go C2 only, here is what it likely means for you:
Better battery efficiency, which is what Apple has built its modems around
Access to Limit Precise Location, the iOS privacy setting that only works on Apple designed modems
An open question on mmWave 5G, which the C1 and C1X never supported
I would rather have Apple's modem, with one caveat
Personally, I would take the C2. Our iPhone 17 Pro review scored the phone 7.9 and called out its improved battery life, and Apple's own modems have consistently been the more power efficient option, so a C2 across the whole Pro lineup sounds like a better day-to-day experience to me.
The caveat is mmWave. If the C2 still cannot do it, US buyers would be trading that away for battery and privacy gains, and I am guessing most people would take that deal without ever noticing. I would personally love it if Apple just confirmed the modem in September and ended the guessing.
Johanna Romero is a Senior News Writer at PhoneArena, covering mobile technology news across Android, iOS, wearables, and the Google ecosystem she knows best. Drawing on 15 years in IT and tech support from 2007 to 2022, she brings a user-friendly eye for the practical features and lesser-known tricks readers care about. Google named her an official #TeamPixel member in 2022, and she also reviews the latest devices on her YouTube channel, JoJo the Techie.
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