A powerful processor and 5G wireless networking will force Apple to build a cooling system into the 2022 iPhone, according to an analyst and trusted Apple prognosticator.
But the system Apple is reportedly investigating won’t be ready in time for the iPhone 13, expected this autumn.
Future iPhones might need a vapor chamber cooling system
Ming-Chi Kuo from TF Securities wrote in a note to investors on Friday, “We expect that the high-end iPhone model will likely adopt the VC thermal system in the near future.”
A vapor chamber heat spreader includes a vacuum-sealed enclosure holding wicking material and a working fluid, according to Celsia. The fluid vaporizes and moves heat from warm to cool areas. The wicking material aids in that process. The chamber is attached to a heat source, like a computer’s processor, and a heat sink.
But Kuo reports,”The iPhone’s critical reason not to adopt VC is because of its reliability test results that cannot meet Apple’s high requirements.” Still, the analysis says it might come to the high-end version of the iPhone “in 2022 at the earliest.”
AppleTrack gives Ming-Chi Kuo a 78% accuracy rating on correctly looking ahead to Apple’s future plans.
iPhone vs. heat
There’s apparently a need for iPhone vapor chamber cooling, as there have already been reports that the iPhone 12 heats up when heavily using 5G cellular-wireless connectivity.
And it could allow Apple to increase the performance of the 2022 iPhone. Even ARM chips get hot. The 2020 MacBook Pro with M1 processor still uses a cooling fan, but the 2020 MacBook Air with the same chip is fan-free.
