[Jimbee (OP)]

Why don't cellphones have antennae anymore? It must be an improvement in the technology. But why antennae? And what are antennas for anyways?

[paul cotter]

They do have antennae or aerials as we call them in this part of the world(British isles). They are integrated into the overall design. Very late edit: I missed part of your question(very sleep deprived today) and the purpose of an aerial is to transmit or receive a signal. The aerial interfaces the circuitry with the free space surrounding the device.

[evan_au]

If you have an old 4G iPhone like mine, there is a metallic pattern in the case, visible from the outside, with gaps in-between. Mine has:
- One metal stripe along the top (above where you hold it)
- One metal stripe along the bottom (below where you hold it)
- A large metal area across the back and sides (where you hold it)
- These metal stripes (antennas) are linked to internal circuitry, which can pick up signals from 2 antennas (or, in more recent models, more than 2 antennas), for transmission and reception.

When the original iPhone was introduced, reception was horrible. It turns out that your hand covered the antennas, attenuating the signals.
- People complained that it was a design flaw, and wanted their money back
- Apple retorted that people were holding it all wrong
- But when you look at the Apple iPhone ads, all the advertising models were holding it wrong, too.

Lesson: Don't just test it in a lab, test it in the real world, too!