Apple Supplier Shrinks Down Capacitors Needed for 5G iPhone, Freeing Up Valuable Internal Space

Apple is planning to implement 5G technology in all of the iPhones coming in 2020, and Apple's suppliers are gearing up for the transition. One supplier, Murata Manufacturing, recently developed an "ultrasmall" version of a key electronic component, which will allow Apple to free up a bit of valuable space in its 5G iPhones.

According to Japanese news site Nikkei, Murata Manufacturing is set to start mass producing tiny multilayer ceramic capacitors that take up one-fifth of the space of the existing capacitors, but also offer 10 times the electrical storage capacity.

muratacapacitors
Each individual capacitor measures in at 0.25mm by 0.125mm, which is tiny. The capacitors are designed to regulate power usage within circuits used in the iPhone, and to create its ultrasmall capacitors, Murata was able to refine the ceramic powder that provides the base material for the sheets used in the capacitor, which allows more sheets to be stacked up for higher capacity without more space consumed on a circuit board.

5G technology is a bigger power drain than 4G technology, necessitating larger batteries and more efficient components. Murata's new capacitors will give smartphone designers like Apple freedom to use that space for other important components within the ‌iPhone‌, such as higher-capacity batteries.

There's no confirmation that Apple is going to use Murata's technology, but it seems likely as Murata is a supplier for Apple. Murata also works with other smartphone companies such as Huawei.

Apple is planning to introduce at least three new iPhones in the fall of 2020, all of which are expected to include 5G technology to allow the ‌iPhone‌ to take advantage of 5G networks and better compete with Android smartphones.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
apple oct 2024 mac tease

Apple Expected to Announce These Two to Three Products 'This Week'

Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip. Gurman...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
joz macbook tease

Apple Teases Upcoming M5 MacBook Pro Launch: 'Something Powerful is Coming'

Tuesday October 14, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased the launch of an upcoming product, saying "something powerful is coming" on social media. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A short animation accompanying Joswiak's teaser reveals a brief glimpse of a MacBook Pro along with the words "coming soon." The shape of the MacBook Pro is a V, which is the Roman numeral...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....

Top Rated Comments

69Mustang Avatar
77 months ago

Cool. But "shrink down?" Is that from the Department of Redundancy Department?
Nah, it's from the Department of Colloquialism. :D
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jscooper22 Avatar
77 months ago
Cool. But "shrink down?" Is that from the Department of Redundancy Department?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Westside guy Avatar
77 months ago
Finally. Although I must admit I've been wondering how they were fitting this thing into the iPhone this whole time...

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alexandr Avatar
77 months ago
some of my friends are convinced they had an iphone 5g in 2012.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mazz0 Avatar
77 months ago
This isn’t really anything to do with 5G is it? I mean yeah, 5G will benefit from it, but so will everything else.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SVTmaniac Avatar
77 months ago
What is that? A capacitor for ants? It needs to be at least three times as big.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)