Leaker: Better reception on iPhone 17 Pro thanks to antenna change?

According to previous Leaks, the most striking on the new iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max is said to be the new rear camera design. The module extends over the housing width with the three lenses, lightning and the lidar, so no longer only occupies one square at the top left. The device can be recognized immediately. The Leaker Majin Bu, who is supposed to have contacts in Apple’s Asian supply chain, now writes that Apple also uses the large new camera area to optimize its antenna design. Allegedly, the necessary exposure in the housing are now “Around the new camera module” repositioned.

Larger area for more reception?

It is a “significant structural change”. According to Majin BU, Apple is based on the design of the Apple Watch Ultra with its “strategically integrated antennas”, which is intended to optimize reception quality and signal stability. The new antenna design could – at least theoretically – improve the quality of reception. This should apply especially to 5G, but also to LTE reception. It is still unclear whether Bluetooth and WLAN also benefit. The antenna area should be larger overall, it is said.

At the moment, Apple, for example, leads its antennas on the iPhone 15 Pro Max in the form of a total of six notches (two top and bottom on the left and right side, one at the top and bottom) on the edge of the housing. Integration into the camera area would significantly increase the area. In a render image that Majin Bu spreads, a combination of antenna lines that come from the edge can be seen to the camera area. It remains to be seen whether they are so correct.

The question of 5G mmwave

Apple continues to plan the installation of a Qualcomm-5G chip on the iPhone 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. It is only the 18-Pro models that are supposed to jump on Apple’s own C2 radio chip in 2026, according to the rumor mill. However, Wi-Fi-7 support is expected for 17 pro and 17 Pro Max. It is also interesting to see whether Apple allows the very fast 5G MMWave technology for Europe for this year’s new Pro-IPHones.

So far, this has only been available for US customers (with adapted hardware). In theory, an improved antenna design could help make MMWave support easier. However, the technology is in this country still hardly spread.