Apple iPhone 18 Pro To Debut ‘Game-Changer’ Satellite Upgrade, Report Says
Apple iPhone 18 Pro To Debut ‘Game-Changer’ Satellite Upgrade, Report Says
Publish Date: 2026-05-26 05:52:00
Source Domain: www.forbes.com
Apple iPhone 17 Pro — will iPhone 18 Pro have improved satellite connectivity built into its hardware?
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May 26 update: this post, first published on May 24, was updated with more details of what the new satellite features are likely to be.
When Apple releases its next iPhones, almost certainly in September, a new modem is likely to be on board which could transform the satellite capabilities of the smartphones.
The three phones expected, iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max and Apple’s first folding phone, perhaps called the iPhone Ultra, a rumored to contain a new Apple-branded modem, the Apple C2.
If the mention of a modem is enough for your eyes to glaze over, hold on, it is interesting, honest.
Apple’s Custom C2 Modem To Replace Qualcomm
“In addition to providing 5G cellular connectivity (replacing Qualcomm modems), C2 will also support 5G over satellite,” 9to5Mac reported.”Specifically, C2 is said to offer 5G NR-NTN. This ‘New Radio Non-Terrestrial Networks’ technology integrates satellite connectivity with 5G cellular.”
Is 5G NR-NTN Satellite Technology A Game-Changer?
If correct, this would mean Apple’s full satellite services would finally catch up with the features offered by Starlink to carriers such as T-Mobile, which one analyst described as a “game-changer.”
When T-Mobile launched its service last year, podcaster Mario Nawfal said on X, “Game-changer: Apple quietly adds Starlink to iPhones…giving users an alternative to their Globalstar service for off-grid communication. The key difference? No more pointing your phone at the sky – Starlink works right from your pocket.”
To be clear, the addition of this service did not install Starlink on iPhones, it meant that the carrier, T-Mobile, enabled the capability to access Starlink. It didn’t work for iPhones on other networks, unless they signed up to the…
