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Apple to Adopt a modified-PI antenna in 2019 and then Return to LCD in 2020 
May 20, 2019
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Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the 2019 iPhones will feature “vast changes” in antenna structures due to a shift in suppliers and technology. The 2019 iPhones will use a new modified-PI antenna structure, a claim he first made in November of 2018, but is now doubling down on. The iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR are limited by their liquid crystal polymer (LCP) antenna technology as production issues around LCP cause problems for high-frequency cellular transmission. The switch to modified-PI antenna structure in the 2019 iPhones will bring both cost and production improvements for Apple. For consumers, it offers performance that is essentially the same as LCP when it comes to 4G LTE. The cost of the antenna technology in the 2019 iPhones will be up 10-20 percent year-over-year due to new ultra-wideband upgrades, which improve the iPhone’s performance when it comes to indoor navigation. Apple supplier Career will lose orders for the iPhone this year, which explains why earlier this year, Career was accused of forcing 200 Apple supplier employees to “voluntarily resign.” Career won’t receive any new orders from Apple in 2019 for iPad and Apple Watch production, either. Kuo expects iPhone shipments in the second half of 2019 will be flat Y/Y and that the 2020 iPhones will adopt 5G technology, and switch back to the aforementioned LCP antenna tech.