The iPhone 13 lineup may expand its 5G mmWave connection faster to more countries outside the United States, according to Taiwanese supply chain sources cited by Patently Apple.
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The report alleges that a Taiwanese company called Qiqi is currently receiving a “big order” for the planned mmWave antennas for the iPhone 13 line, which could explain Qiqi chairman Xie Hongbo’s announcement that the company’s 5G connected shipping would expand significantly this year. Apple’s mmWave antennas are currently manufactured by the Japanese company Murata Manufacturing, which apparently shares orders with Qiqi for the iPhone 13.
Apple’s Wistron supplier reportedly invested in Qiqi, becoming its single largest shareholder, thus helping to integrate it into the iPhone’s supply chain for the first time. hour. Qiqi appears to be working closely with Qualcomm on 5G and Wi-Fi 6 components, which was a key reason in the company being chosen by Apple for mmWave components.
In the United States, all iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro models feature both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G. While mmWave is a faster form of 5G, it is not as wide-ranging and integrated as sub-6GHz 5G, so the iPhone 12 features the ability to take advantage of both, depending on what is available. Outside of the US, however, the iPhone 12 lineup features only slower sub-6GHz 5G.
The news that Apple is looking to order a large number of mmWave antennas and duplicate its suppliers for the part may indicate that iPhone 13 models will feature faster mmWave technology in more segments. MmWave networks are growing at countries like the UK, Germany, Canada, China and Japan and would be able to benefit from faster 5G with the iPhone 13.
In addition, the report notes that Qiqi is the market leader in designing antennas for laptops, which Apple could take advantage of to add a 5G connection to a MacBook at some point somehow in the future. For now, however, Apple ‘s large order from Qiqi will only support the iPhone 13 lineup.