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.

Apple on Wednesday revealed its first custom-designed modem chip that will help connect iPhones to wireless data networks, a move that will make the company less reliant on chips from Qualcomm that also power its Android rivals.

Phone 17 5G modems will be made by MediaTek, as Apple moves away from Qualcomm. Future iPhones will use Apple's solutions instead.

Per Apple, it's "the first modem designed by Apple." Given that all previous iPhones also had some sort of modem chip inside — for example, the iPhone 16 sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon X71M — it's easy to overlook the C1 as just another chip that makes the iPhone do basic iPhone stuff like connecting to the internet.