Although the Apple Watch Series 3 was only introduced three months ago, it’s never too early to work on future products.
Apple’s next smartwatch will, unsurprisingly, have much faster LTE connectivity. There’s a new report out from KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo saying the company is working on several antenna designs capable of increasing the speed and reliability of a wireless connection on the Apple Watch Series 4. Industry-known manufacturer Career has reportedly been tapped to develop an upgraded antenna for an Apple-branded smartwatch.
For the Apple Watch Series 4, the company would like to switch over to LCP FPCB. It’s an improvement over PI, which is what the current Apple Watch features. Apple and Career are trying to get an LCP FPCB-based antenna design into a smartwatch that can hold a better signal and resist both moisture and heat. Unfortunately for Apple, Kuo points out production is challenging and competitors probably won’t implement it until 2019. So there’s plenty of time for Apple and its partner to iron out any potential issues.
The MacBook line would also benefit from the new technology. If brought to laptops, Apple could achieve better Wi-Fi connectivity. Both high-speed and low-latency data transfer are among the benefits. Apple would also be able to reduce the amount of space various ports take up.
Another report from KGI Securities revealed Apple and Intel are co-developing an upgraded antenna for the 2018-released iPhone. The component is said to support 4×4 MIMO standards, vastly increasing data transfer speed on an LTE network.
All of these alleged changes for the iPhone, Apple Watch, and MacBook make it clear that Apple is serious about embracing the next generation of wireless connectivity.
