Apple's Next iPhone Likely To Feature Internal Changes, But Probably Not Liquid Cooling Technology
June 19, 2013
Two new “iPhone 5S” rumors have surfaced -- one that sounds about right, while the other is best described as farfetched.
Fanatic Fone has published photos purportedly showing a brand new iPhone 5S digitizer and LCD screen assembly. The photos are being described as “the first in the world who have made the comparison with the iPhone 5 digitizer and LCD screen assembly.”
As you can see, there are few changes here. The handsets look exactly the same in terms of screens dimensions. Even the distance between the edge of the phone and display is the same.
What is different is the length of the flex cable. On the iPhone 5S, this cable is noticeably longer. This suggests that Apple is working on new internals for the next iPhone.
As Fanatic Fone summarizes:
After taking a look at the back of these two screens, we can see some small differences on the top and bottom of the screens. The front housing of iPhone 5S is thicker on the top compared with the iPhone 5. And for the bottom part, the screw hole of the iPhone 5S is a little bit bigger than the one on the iPhone 5.Most rumors in recent months have suggested that the iPhone 5S will look similar to Apple’s current handset. This report continues with that narrative. Meanwhile, DigiTimes suggests that Apple, and other “first-tier” players, are working to adopt heat pipes into their products by the end of the year. This type of technology, which is sometimes called liquid-cooled, is being pursued by Apple, Samsung Electronics, and High Tech Computer (HTC). According to the report:
Since the conventional graphite plus foil cooling method is no longer able to dissipate enough heat in modern smartphone models efficiently, after 4G becomes a common transmission specification for smartphones in the future, the heat problem is only expected to become worse.It is entirely possible that this report is correct. However, DigiTimes isn’t always a good source. As Cult of Android rightly notes, liquid cooling technology probably isn't yet ready for prime time:
There’s always a chance that the liquid used to cool the device leaks inside it and causes component failure, and that’s an even bigger issue with smartphones, which we carry around in our pockets and bags all day long, and tend to drop more frequently than other devices. And then there are manufacturing hurdles to overcome, too.In other words, devices with liquid cooling components may be coming, but not this year. Apple is expected to unveil the seventh-generation iPhone this fall alongside a so-called budget iPhone. As usual, we'll keep you updated. For more information on the iPhone 5S, see: Photos Leak That Purportedly Show Parts For Apple's Next iPhone, Is This A Case For Apple's Budget iPhone?, and Could A Gold iPhone 5S Really Be In The Cards?
