Technology, Process and Cost
Thermal Management in Smartphones: Technology Comparison 2017
By Yole SystemPlus —
Comparative analysis of thermal management solution analysis of 10 flagship smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Huawei, LG and Xiaomi
Overview / Introduction
Company Profile
- Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, LG
- Smartphone History
Thermal Management Solutions and Comparison
- Heating Zones
- Processor Design and Packaging
- Telephone Assembly Thermal Solutions
Physical Analysis
- Physical Analysis Methodology
- Apple
- iPhone 6s Plus: Package view and heating zones, board PCB and heat spreader, processor A9
- iPhone 7 Plus: Package view and heating zones, board PCB and heat spreader, processor A10
- iPhone 8: Package view and heating zones, board PCB and heat spreader, processor A11
- iPhone X: Package view and heating zones, board PCB and heat spreader, PCB integration
- Samsung
- Galaxy S7: Package view and heating zones, board PCB and heat spreader, processor Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8, heat pipes
- Galaxy S8: Package view and heating zones, board PCB and heat spreader, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835, heat pipes
- Huawei
- P9: Package view and heating zones, board PCB and heat spreader, processor Kirin 955
- Mate 9 Pro: Package view and heating zones, board PCB and heat spreader
- LG
- G6: Package view and heating zones, board PCB and heat spreader, heat pipes
- Xiaomi
- Mi5: Package view and heating zones, board PCB and heat spreader
A smartphone contains several components that generate heat and other components sensitive to heat; to maintain acceptable temperature levels in these small handheld devices, manufacturers propose different solutions which require high performance and design constraints.
To complement Yole Développement’s Market Opportunities for Thermal Management Components in Smartphones report, System Plus Consulting has conducted a comparative technology review to provide insights into the assembling structure and thermal management technology of 10 flagship smartphones from leading suppliers: Apple, Samsung, Huawei, LG and Xiaomi.
In this report, we highlight the differences and the innovations in the thermal management solutions chosen by the end-user OEMs.
Whereas some OEMs use standard solutions such as heat spreaders of metal frames, others choose to consider more complex structures such as heat pipes.
Moreover, as the processor is one of the most important heat sources, we have seen how the PCB design has changed to improve thermal dissipation and how the packaging of the processor itself has evolved to solve thermal problems caused by miniaturization and efficiency increase. Located close to the battery and the DRAM chip on the main board, the application processors are packaged using different Package-on-Package (PoP) technologies. Some AP providers, like HiSilicon or Samsung, use conventional PoP with embedded land-side capacitors; others, like Apple or Qualcomm, use innovative technologies like fan-out PoP or embedded die packaging with advanced PCB substrate.
This report includes multiple comparisons based on physical analyses of the latest flagship smartphones. It offers the unique possibility of seeing thermal management technology evolution, tracked by manufacturer.
REVERSE COSTING WITH
- Detailed photos
- Precise measurements
- Internal packaging structures
- Thermal management solutions
- PCB package cross-sections
- Processor package analysis