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

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Top Rated Comments

69Mustang Avatar
76 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
76 months ago
Cool. But "shrink down?" Is that from the Department of Redundancy Department?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Westside guy Avatar
76 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
76 months ago
some of my friends are convinced they had an iphone 5g in 2012.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mazz0 Avatar
76 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
76 months ago
What is that? A capacitor for ants? It needs to be at least three times as big.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)