Kuo: 2019 iPhones and New iPad Pro Models in Late 2019 to Early 2020 to Adopt New Antenna Technology

[kemal]

For those wondering - like me - MPI is Modified Polyimide.

From what I can gather (I have designed antennas on LCP materials), I know there was a delivery problem with LCP for one major manufacturer as a sub-supplier stopped production of certain base materials.

LCP had good performance up to 77GHz IIRC.

I presume MPI may allow easier integration with flex-rigid designs - perhaps also better heat handling in solder phases and probably lower cost (for Apple profitz)

I thought the antennas were the metal bands firming the perimeter of the phone. Where would there be an antenna made from imide / Kapton?

 

[Alex 88]

Really? Sounds to me like they haven't been online since 2014 when bendgate was a thing.

Have you been living under a rock?
The new iPad Pros are snapping in half like pop tarts...
[doublepost=1557094022][/doublepost]

Not sure what one has anything to do with the other

“bendgate” is a one word summary of an issue

They addressed it 6+ to 6s+ btw

They're obviously talking about the iPad Pros...do you even read Macrumors or know anything about Apple?

 

[thadoggfather]

Have you been living under a rock?
The new iPad Pros are snapping in half like pop tarts...
[doublepost=1557094022][/doublepost]
They're obviously talking about the iPad Pros...do you even read Macrumors or know anything about Apple?

first - calm down bro

Im obviously talking about bendgate of iPad pros, which is what the original post is referring to.

but frail design affected 6+ too and it was silently corrected the next generation. I'm merely citing an example where it was fixed without being officially acknowledged

 

[Tapiture]

iPad Pro had its own bendgate issue with bent iPads in the box. Part of the reason I’m waiting until fall to get a new iPad Pro, assuming they fix it.

From the sound of it we’ll be waiting until past fall. Full-scale production on the new Pros isn’t expected until Q4 2019 or Q1 2020. Could be another WWDC release.

 

[44267547]

but frail design affected 6+ too and it was silently corrected the next generation.

The 6+ was hardly frail. The problem was, you had those who were sitting on their phones when it was in their back pocket, thus resulting in the bending. I owned the 6+ and never had any issues with the bending whatsoever, even when being used case-less in my front pocket. Did the bending happen with the 6+? Yes. Was it something that where the phone was bending in peoples hands, no.

I’m not trying to single out your post, but using words like ‘frail’ does not accurately describe the 6+ bending, especially if you have a full-grown adult that was sitting on the phone in their back pocket.

 

[thadoggfather]

The 6+ was hardly frail. The problem was, you had those who were sitting on their phones when it was in their back pocket, thus resulting in the bending. I owned the 6+ and never had any issues with the bending whatsoever, even when being used case-less in my front pocket. Did the bending happen with the 6+? Yes. Was it something that where the phone was bending in peoples hands, no.

I’m not trying to single out your post, but using words like ‘frail’ does not acrrustely describe the 6+ bending, especially if you have a full-grown adult that was sitting on the phone in their back pocket.

I never had a problem with my 6+ bending fwiw either but they did strengthen the aluminum for the next generation to minimize this being a problem

and in the case of iPad Pro, seems much more widespread and prevalent, especially because it can occur straight out of the box from the factory. Even if you don't have bend, it doesn't feel as structurally sturdy or weight balanced imo as previous iPads. That may be subjective tho / a non issue for some.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Is it just me or are iPhone rumors just getting really boring

WWDC is less than a month. I am sure the rumors will come hot and heavy in the next three weeks.

 

[Analog Kid]

Is it just me or are iPhone rumors just getting really boring

You kidding? I guess it depends on where you're coming from, but I find new antenna tech far more interesting than store openings and lawsuits.

 

[Glockworkorange]

The 6+ was hardly frail. The problem was, you had those who were sitting on their phones when it was in their back pocket, thus resulting in the bending. I owned the 6+ and never had any issues with the bending whatsoever, even when being used case-less in my front pocket. Did the bending happen with the 6+? Yes. Was it something that where the phone was bending in peoples hands, no.

I’m not trying to single out your post, but using words like ‘frail’ does not accurately describe the 6+ bending, especially if you have a full-grown adult that was sitting on the phone in their back pocket.

A case of one YouTuber getting rich by turning a molehill into a mountain.

 

[EugW]

From the sound of it we’ll be waiting until past fall. Full-scale production on the new Pros isn’t expected until Q4 2019 or Q1 2020. Could be another WWDC release.

Sounds more like a release in spring 2020.

 

[Baymowe335]

Should be massive upgrades each year for 1k+ phones.

Explain why that makes sense? People who already have an X or XS aren’t target audience for upgrades. If you’re on an iPhone 6, 7 or 8, it’s a huge upgrade. There are probably 600M-700M of those in use.

 

[dumastudetto]

I’m sorry but that just isn’t going to happen and isn’t realistic. Every year phones get better but there’s only so much you can improve on each year. Phones generally for most aren’t upgraded every year anyway...only techies will buy every year.

Anyone who wants that best-in-class iPhone experience still upgrades every year. IMO annual upgrades still offer huge technological leaps in terms of raw processing power, battery efficiency, radical camera improvements, and other compelling breakthrough technologies such as FaceID.

 

[criticasm]

Bendgate really? You spend to much time online

I spend enough time online to learn the current model iPad Pro's are flimsy pieces of $h!t so structurally weak that a whole batch of models shipped to customers warped & Apple's response was basically "tough $h!t".

 

[TracesOfArsenic]

I'll take boring new hardware over exiting new cosmetics any day.

I hope you're not talking smack about memoji, mate. That was a game changer.

 

[cmaier]

I spend enough time online to learn the current model iPad Pro's are flimsy pieces of $h!t so structurally weak that a whole batch of models shipped to customers warped & Apple's response was basically "tough $h!t".

My iPad Pro 12.9 bought this year is great. Flat, too. Fantastic device.

 

[iapplelove]

I spend enough time online to learn the current model iPad Pro's are flimsy pieces of $h!t so structurally weak that a whole batch of models shipped to customers warped & Apple's response was basically "tough $h!t".

That’s funny, I’ve owned a launch day gen 3 12.9’’ pro with no case and no issues. I throw it in my bag, bring it to work pretty much abuse the damn thing...still straight. A pos really?

How many 12.9” pros do you own? I will wait

 

[apolloa]

Kuo believes... or in other words he doesn’t have a clue and took a guess.
All Apple need to do is dump the rubbish Intel modems, then they won’t need to restrict other models through iOS updates then so the Intel chips don’t look as bad. My XR loves to randomly drop WiFi and cellular signals at home and at work, trouble is with the last two iOS updates my iPad Pro 9.7” ALSO drops WiFi randomly..

Thanks Apple..

I just hope in 2020 I’ll have a choice between a new XE and XR both with OLED screens and the XR with dual cameras, and Qualcomm modems in both!

 

[macpro2000]

The whole product line up is boring. And to top if off, updates to that lineup have slowed to a trickle. So that's why it feels boring. Why would an antenna update to an otherwise boring product be of interest?

So true. The days of a completely new iMac every few years was when it was fun.

 

[617660]

Who’s to say that’s not coming? (Rhetorical) Don’t you think that’s fairly indicative already that they’re likely working on this? I mean, they did just introduce it for the iPad, and the Mac would make the most sense for the next product. Or are you under the assumption that Apple should have introduced face ID for the Mac, iPad and iPhone on the same year? That’s not usually Apples M.O.

I know that's not usually how Apple operates and hence why my complaint.

They like to milk their way until they can't delay anymore. I'd bet they already figured out how to put FaceID on a Mac but want to wait until 2021 to entice people to upgrade Mac because of FaceID. Apple fans will rejoice but unless we forget it could have easily had happened in 2017.

 

[Kabeyun]

They have always been. Rumours rarely show us any exciting news that Apple could be cooking up.

Incorrect. This place used to be a clearinghouse of exciting tidbits first about Mac development (MR started in 2000) and then the place was abuzz in the year leading up to iDay in 2007. There was no track record of source accuracy either. Things have changed now that there are spies/leakers all along the supply chain, and that the big news is often a new spec or a new lawsuit. Rumors are no longer what they once were.

 

[rwright872]

Who else misses external retractable antenna days?

 

[dilbert99]

I hope it improves the performance, anecdotally, my iPhone XR has poorer data performance than my 6 that it replaced.
Its a shame I cant do a side to side comparison.

One thing I wish is that the signal bars were related to data and not phone signal or have both...
If I have one or two bars, I don't get any data usually.
Its usually, not until I get three or four bars that I start to get data.

 

[Jimmy Bubbles]

Will they silently address bendgate too, I wonder

Yes, with the technological breakthrough of “flexible circuit boards”. LuLz

 

[tobybrut]

I spend enough time online to learn the current model iPad Pro's are flimsy pieces of $h!t so structurally weak that a whole batch of models shipped to customers warped & Apple's response was basically "tough $h!t".

You’ll note that this story is pretty much gone. The main reasons for it are that nobody can actually tell us how many iPad Pros were bent. Was it 10? 20? 100,000? We have no idea because nobody knows. If it’s 10, then it’s a non-issue. Return the ones that were bent within the return period and get a new one for free. If bending were still an issue, we’d still be hearing about new cases, just like we kept hearing about exploding Samsung Note 7’s. For all we know, it was a single batch that shouldn’t have passed QA. Note that every piece of metal will warp slightly when heated during their production process. If they warp beyond Apple’s specifications they weren’t supposed to pass QA as apparently these did. Apple’s tolerance specs were such that any bending would be completely unnoticeable to the user. What’s likely to have happened is that Apple tightened up their QA and no more bent batches went out, and that’s why we’re hearing nothing more about it, though whining on the Internet is forever. People are still whining about the iPhone 6’s bending issue and the iPhone 4’s antenna issue.

I have both an 11” iPad Pro and a 12.9” iPad Pro, latest generation. Both are straight with no signs of bending. The only reason this issue became infamous is because of one YouTube video. Without that video, which shows someone PURPOSELY destroying an iPad Pro, nobody would have thought twice about this. There would be no #bendgate without that video. These days, perception is reality even when there’s little basis for it. If you get one and it’s not bent, be happy with it and enjoy it. If you don’t buy one, that’s fine, too.

 

[Larbo]

Who else misses external retractable antenna days?

Also the days of an port for an external antenna, with all the bands these phone operate on they should be able to make a multi-band for the vehicle.