Technology observation - PCB-FPC soft board - Apple soft board upgrade process

The following is a summary of the FPC usage of several generations of Apple phones:



Starting from the 5S, Apple phones have begun to use FPC extensively as a connection and bearer function. The 5S is equipped with 13 soft boards, and the application range of FPC comprehensively covers touch control, display connection/driver, Home, camera, antenna, etc. The connection of antenna, camera, and other core components has shown the trend of FPC usage.



In 2016, Apple shipped approximately 14-17 soft boards on the iPhone 7/7P, further improving its quantity and value. From the perspective of the soft board position function, Ip7 cancels two LED soft boards, but adds a vibration motor, light sensor, battery, and an antenna soft board. In addition, we have seen that the display drive soft board has been changed from a rigid flexible combination board to a soft board, and the number of layers of soft boards such as earphone jacks and cameras has increased, resulting in an increase in value



In 2017, the iPhone X was released. Due to the addition of OLED, wireless charging, FaceID, and other features, it was necessary to add a corresponding soft board (or upgrade the structure of the soft board). At the same time, the iPhone X and Ip8/8P began to use LCP antennas (the number is 2/1, respectively), which can improve the high-frequency and high-speed performance of the antenna and reduce space occupation. The ASP of the two LCP antennas in X is close to $10 - a significant increase in the value of a single antenna, The overall value of the soft board in iPhone X has also increased to approximately $40.



In 2018, benefiting from the increased demand for antennas for 4 * 4MIMO and the increased usage of LCP antennas for models such as XS * * x/XS, the number of Apple mobile phone softboards was upgraded again, with approximately 24 softboards (including LCP) for XS/XS * * x. According to the disassembly, the number of LCP antennas in the XS/XS * * x/XR is 3/3/2, and the ASP is approximately 13/13/10 dollars, while the overall value of the soft board in the XS * * x has increased to a new high of nearly 60 dollars.