Apple is allegedly planning to beef up the iPhone 7’s shielding against electromagnetic interference this year with new protections for all of the device’s major chips.
The iPhone 7 may not be able to survive a devastating EMP attack — like the one presidential candidate Ted Cruz has been really worried about lately — but it should lead to better performance, according to a report out of South Korea claiming Apple has already hired StatsChipPac and Amkor to do the shielding.
Other Apple products have already featured chips with EMI shielding. The iPhone’s circuit board and a couple chips had been protected in the past. The Apple Watch’s S1 chip was the first to have it applied to the major chip package though, so Apple’s ready to add it on the iPhone 7 for chips like radio frequency, Bluetooth, wireless LAN, applications processors, and modems too.
“As clock signals of digital chips have increased and as diverse functions such as 3D Touch and others were recently added, reduction of electromagnetic waves has emerged as a major topic of this industry.” said a industry source that spoke to ETNews. “As other smartphone businesses look to apply EMI Shield technology to major chips like as Apple did, packaging and other related equipment industries will benefit a lot.”
Production costs for Apple’s chips will increase due to the new EMI-shielding. The process will reportedly take place at StatChipPac and Amkor’s facilities in South Korea and could lead to more elaborate, compact circuit boards so Apple can make the iPhone thinner than ever, or add a bigger battery.
