Apple's 2019 iPhones to feature changes in antenna technology: Ming-Chi Kuo

Apple’s next generation of iPhones are a long way from launch but that’s never going to stop the rumour mill from churning. The 2019 iPhone family is now rumoured to have a new mix of antenna technology that is expected to be more reliable as Apple moves towards 5G in 2020. According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who generally has a very respectable record when it comes to predicting Apple’s hardware moves, Apple is looking to move away from using Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP) antenna tech and adopt a new combination that uses a technology referred to as MPI. What does this mean for actual performance on the new phones? Well, there won’t be much difference for calls or data, according to Kuo. He says that the 2019 iPhones will still have six antennas (four MPI antennae and two LCP antennae) built into them, but because Apple might be able to strike a better deal on component prices (by threatening to move to a different technology), there could be potential improvements in price for the consumer as well. Knowing Apple, whose phones have only risen in price, year after year, this is very unlikely. [caption id=“attachment_5467831” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The Apple iPhone XR. Image: tech2/Omkar Patne[/caption] As per a report by 9To5Mac, Kuo says that there are quite a few reasons for Apple to make this change, most of which are too technical to get into in this article. Kuo reportedly mentions that LCP is more brittle than competing technologies and that MPI performance could match LCP once the formula for its manufacture is further refined. Although there is no mention of 5G in the report, the modifications could be the first steps towards Apple’s 5G future.