Apple's flagship smartphone line always seeks to be one step ahead with boundary-pushing tech, which consequently leads to more energy generation and difficulties with heat management. According to a new report by Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is currently working on a solution for this (via AppleInsider).
The Cupertino-based tech giant, according to Kuo, is "aggressively testing" vapor-chamber cooling for its next-generation iPhone line.
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What is vapor chamber tech?
Vapor chambers are high-conductivity systems that help evenly distribute the heat the phone outputs. As the temperature of the processor rises, the liquid inside the vapor chamber evaporates, keeping the CPU cool. The vapor spreads thermal energy throughout the chamber as it travels to low-pressure areas. Specialized condenser tech then removes heat from the vapor. The vapor returns to a liquid state, flows back into high-pressure areas and the cycle continues.
It's a highly effective method of cooling phone hardware, but it's typically more expensive than other thermal solutions. It's also worth noting that vapor-chamber tech in handsets isn't a new concept, especially when it comes to the gaming-smartphone industry. Devices such as the Razer Phone 2 and the Asus ROG Phone 3 have vapor-chamber tech that cools down hot spots during high-intensity gaming.
Kuo revealed that Apple has been working on vapor-chamber tech for quite some time, but unfortunately, none of the prototypes met their high-quality standards after performing reliability tests.
"Still, we are optimistic about the [vapor chamber] reliability improvement schedule and expect that at least high-end iPhone models would be equipped with [vapor chambers] in the near future," Kuo said in a report on Friday. It's highly likely that Apple will adopt vapor-chamber tech in an upcoming iPhone, but Kuo is uncertain whether it will be the implemented into the iPhone 13 or a later successor.
Although Ming-Chi Kuo is a reliable leaker with a 78% accuracy rate, he's clearly had a few misses as well, so make sure to take this information with a grain of salt.
