One of Apple’s key suppliers may have just found a way to free up a bit more space inside the 2020 iPhones.
Murata Manufacturing claims it has created ultrasmall capacitors that are one-fifth the size of current capacitors. With 5G capable iPhones set to gobble up battery power next year, Apple needs every extra square millimeter it can get.
Nikkei reports that the Japanese company will be ready to mass-produce the smaller multilayer ceramic capacitors as soon as this spring. Not only are they 5 times smaller than current capacitors, but they have 10 times the electrical storage capacity as well. There’s no word if Apple actually plans to use the capacitors, but they could give the company a tiny boost.
Murata has been a long-time supplier of iPhone components. The company invested over $300 million in new production facilities to increase their output of parts just two years ago and it’s paid off. Murata is currently Apple’s only supplier for advanced antenna parts in the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo told investors last month that one of Apple’s biggest challenges with bringing 5G to the 2020 iPhone will be finding “suppliers who can offer massive stable shipments, besides Murata.”
There’s no confirmation is Apple will use All three new iPhones in the 2020 iPhone lineup are expected to have 5G capabilities. The design is expected to be similar to the iPhone 4-5s except with an edge-to-edge OLED display, Face ID and possible Touch ID embedded into the display.
