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

[MacRumors]

Apple's upcoming 2018 iPhones will feature upgraded liquid crystal polymer (LCP) antenna modules that will contribute to faster LTE transmission speeds, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said tonight in a note that was sent out to investors.

Kuo says new iPhone models will use at least two LCP LTE antenna modules, much like the iPhone X, but with improvements to support 4x4 MIMO standards.

Antenna design upgrade a key factor in anticipated boost to LTE transmission speed in new 2H18F iPhone models. As a LTE antenna FPCB material, LCP is superior to PI in properties related to high-frequency, thermal performance and moisture resistance. We predict 2H18 new iPhones will be equipped with two LCP LTE antenna modules same as iPhone X or more, but with higher specs to support 4x4 MIMO standards.

Last week, Kuo said Apple is expected to use Intel XMM 7560 and Qualcomm Snapdragon X20 modems in its next-generation iOS devices, enabling faster LTE transmission speeds. Both of those chips support the previously mentioned 4x4 MIMO technology, compared to 2x2 MIMO in the current iPhone models.

4x4 MIMO, or Multiple-Input Multiple-Output has the potential to significantly improve LTE transmission speeds by increasing the number of data paths between a cellular tower and an iOS device to four.

In previous notes, Kuo has said Apple is working on a total of three iPhones for 2018, including a 5.8-inch OLED model that's similar to the current iPhone X, a 6.5-inch OLED model that can be thought of as a sort of "iPhone X Plus," and a new 6.1-inch LCD model, designed to sell at a lower price point. All three, says Kuo, will include edge-to-edge iPhone X-style displays and Face ID support.

Kuo believes Apple will ship an estimated 100 to 120 million iPhone units in the second half of 2018, something he has previously said will fuel an upgrade "supercycle" during the year.

Article Link: 2018 iPhones to Feature Upgraded Antenna Design to Boost LTE Transmission Speeds

 

[farewelwilliams]

hopefully the SE form factor stays the same. my mom does not want to learn anything new.

 

[KONVICTED]

iPhone X has been a great experience for me. Looking forward to 6.5 inch iPhone.

 

[joueboy]

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

 

[iapplelove]

When will these signals become too strong to be healthy ?

 

[Brandhouse]

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

 

[PBRsg]

All I see is notches...

 

[exodiusprime]

Would be really odd to have Apple call the iPhone X the "future of iPhones" and then release the iPhone 9 that's essentially the iPhone X but bigger (assuming that's what the LCD version would be called). My guess would be they change how they name the phones like "iPhone Edition" or "iPhone Pro"/"iPhone Plus"

 

[KONVICTED]

All I see is notches...

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.

 

[djlythium]

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.

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...

 

[jonnysods]

"should I buy now or wait?"

 

[myscrnnm]

All I see is notches...

People keep whining about the notch; but I'd take the notch over those giant top and bottom bezels on the old iPhone any day. A bunch of wasted space. Anytime I see other iPhones now I'm just reminded of how archaic that design is.

 

[PortableLover]

Apple give us a smaller OLED please!

 

[KONVICTED]

"should I buy now or wait?"

Why wait if you want it right now. Just go for it. You won't be disappointed. I am using my X form past 20 days and it's been a great experience for me.

 

[munpip214]

Yay...So with this new gigabit modem I would be able to get 40mbps instead of 20mbps?

 

[acblue94]

All I see is notches...

Would you rather ugly black bars?

 

[cmaier]

Unless I’m missing something you can’t do 4x4 MIMO with two antennas. Unless each module has two?

 

[ozziegn]

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 ****!

 

[JPack]

Cue the comments from uninformed posters who think 4x4 MIMO and Gigabit LTE have no effect on real-world performance.

It's not about peak throughput. Under weak signal conditions, such as deep inside an office tower, underground, or inside a mall, additional antennas and faster rates make a big difference.

 

[griz]

People keep whining about the notch; but I'd take the notch over those giant top and bottom bezels on the old iPhone any day. A bunch of wasted space. Anytime I see other iPhones now I'm just reminded of how archaic that design is.

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.

 

[PickUrPoison]

All I see is notches...

Notch or full-width bezel, it’s one of the other.

Apple’s made their choice, now you can make yours.

 

[avanpelt]

I don’t see why upgraded antenna design is of any real consequence for U.S. customers. The LTE iPhones are already capable of much faster throughput than most U.S. customers have ever been able to achieve.

 

[mikefla]

I first asked (they said no and they were wrong) and now I'm telling Tmo that iPhone X works much better on their not so great network vs. iPhone 7 Plus I was using before. I'm seeing better overall speeds and better overall signal in general and this of course has to do with the antenna design and the LTE modem although I'm still not a big fan of Intel. I'm also telling Apple/Tmo to work hard on further improving radio/LTE performance on iPhone X via modem firmware/iOS updates so that we can get a better overall experience from the network that in my opinion and my experience still sucks in plenty of places.

-Mike

 

[cmaier]

I don’t see why upgraded antenna design is of any real consequence for U.S. customers. The LTE iPhones are already capable of much faster throughput than most U.S. customers have ever been able to achieve.

Should still speed things up even if no additional bandwidth is used - going to higher level MIMO, etc., results in fewer error-laden packets that need to be resent.

 

[mikefla]

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 ****!

Haha it's just like WIFI the closer you are to your wireless router the stronger your WIFI signal is and the faster your connection will be doesn't matter what frequency or technology you are working with. So no doubt it will help in general.

-Mike
[doublepost=1511320674][/doublepost]

Yay...So with this new gigabit modem I would be able to get 40mbps instead of 20mbps?

Exactly and if you use Sprint instead of 5 you will then get 10 lol

-Mike
[doublepost=1511320802][/doublepost]

iPhone X has been a great experience for me. Looking forward to 6.5 inch iPhone.

Same here but making the screen a bit wider wouldn't hurt either. Took me a while to get used to X coming from iPhone 7 Plus, the X screen felt narrow and tiny at first but now getting used to it I guess.

-Mike