No mmWave Support

The iPhone Air is the first mainstream model to ditch Qualcomm 5G modem chips in favor of Apple’s in-house silicon. In this case, it’s the C1X, a slightly upgraded version of the C1 that came to the iPhone 16e earlier this year.

Apple says the new “X” version is twice as fast and 30 percent more power-efficient than the C1, but there’s still one thing it lacks, and that’s support for the higher-frequency mmWave bands.

While mmWave can deliver faster performance, that’s not something iPhone Air users are likely to care about. However, the greater bandwidth offered by mmWave can make a big difference when visiting crowded venues like stadiums and airports, where thousands of people may be vying for a piece of the 5G signal.

Expect the models of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Max to get a better signal in these scenarios, at least in the United States, which is still the only region where Apple sells mmWave versions of the iPhone.