An iPhone 18 Pro Max sold in the United States is still equipped with a Qualcomm modem, a TechInsights teardown confirms. The report says the device’s modem firmware aligns with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X80, corroborating earlier signals.
The teardowns also point to a split by model and region. 9to5Mac and MacRumors both note that other iPhone 18 Pro models use Apple’s custom C2 modem, rather than Qualcomm’s, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max uses the C2 modem outside the U.S. That makes the U.S. Pro Max an exception. MacRumors adds that iPhone 17 Pro models use the Snapdragon X80 worldwide, and that the U.S. iPhone 18 Pro Max includes a newly identified mmWave 5G antenna module. Apple has not publicly explained why only the U.S. version relies on Qualcomm, and outlets highlight that any performance comparison between the C2 and Snapdragon X80 is not yet available.
