iPhone 13 May Feature Faster mmWave 5G Connectivity in More Countries

The iPhone 13 lineup may expand faster mmWave 5G connectivity to more countries outside the United States, according to Taiwanese supply chain sources cited by Patently Apple.

iphone 12 5g

The report claims that a Taiwanese company called Qiqi is in the process of receiving a "large order" for mmWave antennas destined for the ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup, which may explain Qiqi chairman Xie Hongbo's announcement that the company's 5G-related component shipments would increase significantly this year. Apple's mmWave antennas are currently manufactured by Japanese company Murata Manufacturing, which will apparently share orders with Qiqi for the ‌iPhone‌ 13.

Apple supplier Wistron reportedly invested in Qiqi, becoming its single largest shareholder, thereby helping to bring it into the ‌iPhone‌ supply chain for the first time. Qiqi apparently cooperates closely with Qualcomm on 5G and Wi-Fi 6 components, which was a key factor in the company being selected by Apple for mmWave parts.

In the United States, all ‌iPhone‌ 12 or ‌iPhone‌ 12 Pro models feature both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G. While mmWave is a faster form of 5G, it is less widespread and penetrates less well than sub-6GHz 5G, so the ‌iPhone‌ 12 features the ability to take advantage of both, depending on which is available. Outside the U.S., however, the ‌iPhone‌ 12 lineup only features slower sub-6GHz 5G.

The news that Apple is looking to order a large number of mmWave antennas and double its suppliers for the component may signal that ‌iPhone‌ 13 models will feature faster mmWave technology in more regions. Countries such as the UK, Germany, Canada, China, and Japan all have growing mmWave networks and would be able to benefit from faster 5G with the ‌iPhone‌ 13.

Moreover, the report notes that Qiqi is the market leader in designing antennas for laptops, which Apple could take advantage of to add 5G connectivity to a MacBook at some point in the future. For now, however, Apple's large order from Qiqi will reportedly support ‌iPhone‌ 13 lineup only.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...

Top Rated Comments

Lounge vibes 05 Avatar
63 months ago
As an iPhone 12 user who lives in 5G range, allow me to tell you that the battery life hit is not worth it.
One day at my house, the power went out, and I was stuck using 5G. My phone drained from 100% down to about 55% in an hour, and all I was doing was listening to a podcast.
I turned off 5G-auto, and went back to regular LTE, and the battery drain immediately stopped.
The LTE loaded my podcast better as well.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
63 months ago
Useless until we get actual unlimited data at affordable prices in my country. The only thing I can see 5G being worth for is to stream but I would never dare to stream or to download big chunks of data on mobile data thanks to data caps so it does not really matter to me if I am on LTE or 5G. What do I care if my page loads a split mili second faster or if my WhatsApp picture gets sent slightly and unnoticeable quicker if my battery life suffers instead
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Cosmosent Avatar
63 months ago
It's far more important that the 2nd-Gen 5G chips from Qualcomm have MUCH BETTER power efficiency, which they will !
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
63 months ago
I doubt the accuracy of this news.

Most countries outside the U.S. aren't falling for the mmWave trap. They have plenty of access to mid-band 5G, which enables speeds in excess of 1Gbps.

The laws of physics will prevent mmWave from being widely adopted. It's simply unsuitable for urban deployment.

These orders for additional mmWave antennas are likely for upcoming iPad and MacBook products with 5G.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SoGood Avatar
63 months ago
Sounds good. Reason why for bypassing iPhone 12, the first iPhone generation bypassed. It’s a half baked 5G phone, not worth the money.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apparatchik Avatar
63 months ago
Ive been very vocal about how 5G is basically worthless for common usage scenarios while negatively impacting battery life, the modem's inner space budget, producing higher heat levels etc. The X60 modem, however, might start to change this, even as the advantages of 5G over 4G+ remain mostly unchanged, as in just corner use cases benefit from it if at all.

Even as the most advanced device on most people hands (usually laptop, tablet, tv, etc are changed a lot less often), the devices that would benefit most from the advertised features of 5G are not smartphones, with their tiny screens and software limitations.

Without going into the self-driving cars and remote surgery marketing speech, 5G might actually be useful on a laptop or as a home broadband replacement so you can actually stream 4K/8K content to your TV or do actual work on your computer. On a phone, there's just so little you can do that is not already possible with 200 Mbps LTE. Online gaming, 4K Netflix, HD Live Streaming are all things you can already do from yout LTE+ iPhone 11.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)