Rumored thin motherboard for iPhone 17 allegedly dropped over quality issues

A motherboard or mainboard (source: Ming-Chi Kuo)

The iPhone 17 range may not utilize the rumored thinner motherboard after all. It would have reduced costs and also increased available space for other components.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo broke the news of Apple working on this new motherboard in October 2023. It was to use Resin Coated Copper (RCC), which replaces the traditional bonding sheet — the familiar green backing of a motherboard — with a deposited resin.

At the time, Kuo said that this would not only save internal space in the iPhone 17 but "because it's fiberglass-free" would also make the required drilling easier. That in itself would cut down on production costs.

Now, however, Kuo says that Apple has dropped the plan to use it in the 2025 range. The change is due "to the inability to meet Apple's high-quality requirements," he said in a tweet.

Apple2025iPhone 17RCCPCB
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Update: Due to the inability to meet Apple's high-quality requirements, the new iPhone 17 in 2025 will not use RCC as the PCB motherboard material. https://t.co/ZInZnDqQqZ
— (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) July 17, 2024

In his original report, Kuo did say that RCC would not be used in the iPhone 16 range because of "its fragile characteristics and inability to pass drop tests." Presumably, Apple was confident in overcoming these issues, but presumably, it failed to do so.

Kuo offers no further detail so far. That means it's not clear whether RCC has truly been abandoned or Apple is now looking to use it in the iPhone 19 for 2026.

Separately, certain plans for the iPhone range up to and including the iPhone 19 have seemingly been leaked. They all concern the displays and camera upgrades, however.

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5 Comments

apple4thewin 174 comments · 3 Years

About 1 month ago

I think you mean iPhone 18 in 2025. What is new then for the 17? Rumored thinness is now gone, 2nm is now gone, and maybe upgraded camera stays?

tht 5506 comments · 23 Years

About 1 month ago

apple4thewin said:

I think you mean iPhone 18 in 2025. What is new then for the 17? Rumored thinness is now gone, 2nm is now gone, and maybe upgraded camera stays?

That was a tweet from Kuo, who got the dates wrong or iPhone numbers wrong.

I think the rumored thinness is just bullshit rumormongering from Kuo. Never understood how using this new resin coated copper would make the iPhone thinner. Never trust any of Kuo’s extrapolations. The actual supply chain leak he has, like the RCC, is subject to constant change, and is therefore not that reliable.

The iPhone uses a stacked logic board, where they have 2 PCBs stacked on top of each other. Each of the boards are filled to the brim with components and there is no room to spare, on all four sides of it.

This RCC doesn’t magically get rid of all those components. So, how can the “logic board” be thinner if none of the components are being consolidated or made thinner as well?

This assumes all that the logic board is actually the thickest component in the phones, and not the battery, the Taptic Engine, the front sensors, the speakers, and who knows what else.

nubus 542 comments · 8 Years

About 1 month ago

apple4thewin said:

I think you mean iPhone 18 in 2025. What is new then for the 17? Rumored thinness is now gone, 2nm is now gone, and maybe upgraded camera stays?

New colors, a button dedicated to AI (or not), dynamic islet, MLA AMOLED display (yup), and 5G Advanced on more devices. It will be the best iPhone ever.

apple4thewin 174 comments · 3 Years

About 1 month ago

nubus said:
New colors, a button dedicated to AI (or not), dynamic islet, MLA AMOLED display (yup), and 5G Advanced on more devices. It will be the best iPhone ever.

interesting to see how good is mla amoled on a small screen since I think only 2 tvs exists with that tech. And I feel like adding another button on top of the camera button we might get this year is a bit too much and the only logical place to put it is the right side since reaching for the top is more difficult for people with small hands and big screens. But yeah like they say every year “The Best/most Advanced iPhone Ever”