A lot of people faced connectivity issues with their iPhone XS when it came out in September. Last we heard, Apple was investigating the complaints, but we don’t know what conclusions it’s come to. There is some good news for next year’s lineup though, since it seems like the company is going to try a different combination for its antenna.
According to noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is going to move away from relying only on Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) technology to a mixture of two LCP and four modified polyimide (MPI) antennae. The iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR have six LCP antennae each.
Why Apple Is Switching Up Antennas
Apple apparently has lower bargaining power against LCP suppliers and finds it difficult to bring in new ones because of how complicated the production process is. LCP is more brittle than other materials as well, so yield rates can be low. Increasing the yield rate could lower performance.
MPI could serve as an alternative since it’s as good as LCP thanks to its “improved fluoride formula.” 9to5Mac doesn’t think the average consumer will notice any difference in performance. Kuo thinks both LCP and MPI will be heavily involved in 5G technology.
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The 5G iPhone isn’t supposed to arrive until 2020 though. LCD antennae are favored at the moment for their consistently strong performance and low signal loss rate. MPI is “catching up,” so Apple might be gambling a bit here. Hopefully, its experiments will pay off and no one will have a tough time catching a signal in their iPhone next year.
As per Business Insider, Kuo also repeated his earlier claims about the size of the 2019 iPhones. They’re going to be the same as the 2018 iPhones, with a 5.8-inch iPhone XS sequel, a 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max follow-up, and a 6.1-inch iPhone XR successor.