2018 iPhones to Feature Upgraded Antenna Design to Boost LTE Transmission Speeds

[barkomatic]

My Note 8, which already supports 4x4 MIMO has an internet connection which is almost twice as fast as my iPhone X and yes, I can tell in real world usage since I’m currently in an area with weak service at times. The iPhone X buffers while the Note sails through. It’s a situation where the superior processor on the iPhone X doesn’t help much.

In totality though, these two phones both have strengths and weaknesses the other doesn’t have. This is the first time I can say that about an Android phone. The S9 should be very interesting.

 

[Plutonius]

Antenna gate part two ?

 

[dfstock]

I like this. We are going to need a lot better antenna's if we want to get to 5G.

 

[macguru212]

I have zero issue about notch. It's going to be there until Apple finds a way to place the Camera and sensors with in the display.

The fact that the notch is not a design choice but a technical need leads me to believe that once Apple figures out a solution this will no longer be a problem and we'll stop talking about it.

happy thanksgiving everyone

 

[democracyrules]

Ming say, Ming says... yawn. If Ming said he wiped his backside last night it'd be quoted here.

It is the undoubtedly power of Ming.

 

[Mike MA]

Wherever those speeds are available....

 

[PortableLover]

Why? The iphone is now a mobile computer so a bigger screen is desired to get work done. If you want the small screen you can get iphone 5.

SE you mean. It would be good to have a small top of the range phone.

 

[ipedro]

I’m really curious how they’re going to improve the iPhone X in a year. This thing is a smartphone from the future, a few years ahead of its time. I can’t think of any flagship feature that they introduce in just a year that’ll wow people and make them want to upgrade. Faster LTE speeds on an already blazing fast connection isn’t going to be enough.

 

[newellj]

Ming say, Ming says... yawn. If Ming said he wiped his backside last night it'd be quoted here.

And your predictions are...? And your track record is...?

 

[FelixDerKater]

Now with exclusive lock screen pictures.

 

[FriendlyMackle]

Because not everyone wants to carry Phablet or mini tablets as their daily phone in the pockets.
Options are good, but i dont see the point of having 3 big phones (5.8", 6.1" & 6.5") that almost having the same size without offering smaller sized phone as well (4"-5").

Have you tried the X (5.8") -- it is a small phone?! Really fits in the hand and in small pockets etc.

 

[lederermc]

You can bet they’ve been working on it for years now. It’d be game-changing, like the multitouch screen, Retina display, SoC chips, Secure Enclave...

I have no problem with natch but I want the touch-ID instead of face-ID. I want my wife to be able to unlock and answer my phone and as far as I've read you can only put one person's face into it.

 

[Miss_Mac]

Would this help if the carriers services are oversaturated by folks using their unlimited plans?

 

[cmaier]

I’m really curious how they’re going to improve the iPhone X in a year. This thing is a smartphone from the future, a few years ahead of its time. I can’t think of any flagship feature that they introduce in just a year that’ll wow people and make them want to upgrade. Faster LTE speeds on an already blazing fast connection isn’t going to be enough.

Bigger screen (wider at least) and I’d upgrade from my x. Add a third camera on the back for even more zoom? Apple Pencil support? Faster screen refresh? Put enough of those in there and folks will upgrade.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

I wonder what these newer, super-duper antennas will do for those of us on AT&T's highly over saturated and quite often under powered LTE network?

Probably jack ****!

Been thinking of switching myself due to the reasons you just mentioned...
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It makes very little sense that they needed to utilize the area on either side of the notch for anything other than the time, wifi/LTE indicators and battery level. The fact that apps have to wrap around the notch is just bad design. When holding it horizontally you just make it black and it vanishes and vertical you leave the time and other indicators there.
Or you do it the way samsung did. Just leave a very thin bezel and that would be the end of it. I think samsung's design looks a lot better. If only it had iOS on it.

Not only did I thumbs up your post, but I am responding because I am in the same camp as you. The notch is just plain and simply a bad design choice.

 

[Yibn]

I have no problem with natch but I want the touch-ID instead of face-ID. I want my wife to be able to unlock and answer my phone and as far as I've read you can only put one person's face into it.

You still have password entry.

 

[Brien]

What they gonna call this? An iPhone 8S? iPhone 9 iPhone 11? iPhone X squared? iPhone X2? iPhone XI? I’m confused!?

I would assume they ditch numbers like the iPad.

 

[newellj]

I’m really curious how they’re going to improve the iPhone X in a year. This thing is a smartphone from the future, a few years ahead of its time. I can’t think of any flagship feature that they introduce in just a year that’ll wow people and make them want to upgrade. Faster LTE speeds on an already blazing fast connection isn’t going to be enough.

Next gen LTE + bigger antenna could make a lot of us reeeeally want an iPhone XI. Lots of us don't have that blazing connection experience. OTOH, what I really need is VZW to install more cells here, lots more. And "here," fwiw, is metro Boston.

 

[forrestsun3]

I've always wondered, where is the Kuo's note published? Where to find the full note?

 

[SeaFox]

This is all fine and dandy, but the real truth is you, myself, my dentist and even Tim Cook have no idea about the long term ramifications of cell phone usage. As signal strength continues to become stronger and stronger...

Do you have something you can cite showing cell phone signals are getting "stronger and stronger"? Because from where I am sitting you are making the assumption that the faster LTE data speeds that modern cell phones enjoy can only be accomplished by increasing broadcast power. Better antenna designs, new frequency modulations, etc are allowing higher data transmissions speeds on similar transmitter broadcast power as before.

Also keep in mind lots of the latest network expansions have been to frequencies that were originally allocated for analog TV signals. That's not "more signals", it's replacing the signals from one type of data (NTSC television) with another (digital communications).

I wish I could find it now, but I happened upon a chart once that shows cell phones and their output of electromagnetic waves and this chart went waaaaay back. The result showed something very obvious: a decline in output of phones between newer models and older models. With the biggest jump happening when you looked at the difference between older analog frequency models and later digital service handsets.
[doublepost=1511379154][/doublepost]

Not a good comparison at all. I go to the dentist yearly. My phone is in my pocket everyday.

The comparison has nothing to do with the frequency of exposure. My point was that newer tech allowed us to do more with less. The original post is making some Luddite argument that we can only transmit more data by transmitting more powerfully.

 

[ipedro]

Next gen LTE + bigger antenna could make a lot of us reeeeally want an iPhone XI. Lots of us don't have that blazing connection experience. OTOH, what I really need is VZW to install more cells here, lots more. And "here," fwiw, is metro Boston.

Right now, I'm getting roughly 25-60Mbps at any given time. I'm not downloading massive files like I do on a Mac or iPad and even if I were, it would take seconds to use up my entire 12GB monthly bandwidth allowance. Until true unlimited data becomes mainstream and until we find use cases for that much data, I can't see myself needing anything faster than the 300Mbps that LTE Advanced can provide.

Maybe when we're all walking around with virtual reality glasses that are so immersive that they're indistinguishable from the real world, then perhaps we'll need that kind of data speeds on the go. Not in 2018 though...

The iPhone X is near damn perfect. I can't see what kind hardware improvements in the near term that'll be must haves. It has speed to spare for at least a few years like when the iPad Pro was launched (still too fast for any existing application's requirements to catch up to). Maybe a modest rear camera improvement? I doubt we'll see the laser TrueDepth rear camera technology next year though that's something to look forward to in 2019. The micro LED screen is also a couple of years away. The notch ain't going away for several years for both technological limitations and branding reasons.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Would this help if the carriers services are oversaturated by folks using their unlimited plans?

It depends on where the bottleneck is. If the backhaul (the connection between the cell site and the carriers upstream network) is insufficient, adding more capacity to the air interface doesn’t help one bit.

If the carriers continue to use unlimited data as a marketing tool to increase subscriber count, they need to upgrade their network infrastructure to keep pace. That includes adding additional cell sites when necessary, but that’s expensive and can take quite some time to implement. The carriers are looking to minimize the need to add more sites, while increasing the bandwidth available to users, by using 5G technology.

 

[kdarling]

When will these signals become too strong to be healthy ?

If you worry about things like that, then hopefully you don't use an iPhone, since they have some of the highest SAR outputs around, (recently almost at the legal threshold).

Instead, try a Samsung, which have some of the lowest.

The good news is that the iPhone X is lower than previous models.

https://www.iphonetricks.org/iphone-x-sar-values-are-lower-than-those-of-its-predecessors/

That said, SAR is all about energy being absorbed, usually in the form of heating up tissue. The big debate is whether or not that actually causes any other problems (beyond the well known one of lowering sperm output if near the testicles... which is why hot baths are supposed to avoided by wannabe fathers).

 

[newellj]

@ipedro - it may not have been clear but in practical use I agree. My/our problem in many parts of the states is that LTE coverage in real life is pretty spotty and in places, even surprising places, non-existent. That's what I meant when I said that what I really need is not next gen LTE but good coverage with the available speeds of today's existing network. I agree that the X as hardware is a tour de force, completely impressive.

 

[Miss_Mac]

It depends on where the bottleneck is. If the backhaul (the connection between the cell site and the carriers upstream network) is insufficient, adding more capacity to the air interface doesn’t help one bit.

If the carriers continue to use unlimited data as a marketing tool to increase subscriber count, they need to upgrade their network infrastructure to keep pace. That includes adding additional cell sites when necessary, but that’s expensive and can take quite some time to implement. The carriers are looking to minimize the need to add more sites, while increasing the bandwidth available to users, by using 5G technology.

Thank you for the explanation. I thought there might be more to that.