Intel modem announcement likely means no 5G iPhone until 2020

“Apple is currently believed to be leaving out 5G connectivity as a feature of the 2019 iPhones, in favor of waiting another year before adding support for the wireless technology,” Malcolm Owen reports for AppleInsider. “While speculation and analysis indicates that is likely to be the case, Intel has seemingly confirmed it won’t be able to help Apple if it decided to add 5G to the iPhone this year.”
“Intel executives advised to Reuters on Friday devices using its 5G modems won’t go on sale until 2020,” Owen reports. “While Intel does not name specific companies that are affected by the announcement, as it is a major supplier of modems to Apple, it effectively infers this year’s iPhone models won’t be 5G-enabled if they use Intel’s modems.”
“Intel is not the only company to have created a 5G-capable modem. On Tuesday, Qualcomm revealed the Snapdragon X55 5G modem with the potential to offer download speeds of up to 7 gigabits per second and support for ‘all major frequency bands,’ but the ongoing legal battle with Apple means it won’t be making an appearance in an iPhone anytime soon,” Owen reports. “The 2020 iPhones may not even use a modem designed by Intel or anyone else at all, as Apple is believed to be working on bringing the design of the component in-house…”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: There’s no benefit of putting the cart before the horse anyway (outside of marketing to pigeons, which the fragmandroid peddlers will certainly do.
Apple is going to wait until 5G is worth supporting, not rush it to market in order to bilk the ignoranti with a check mark on a spec sheet that most will never use in 2019. If 5G actually mattered to enough people in 2019, Apple would have a 5G iPhone available in 2019. 5G is still very much in the trial phase and will have very limited availability in 2018. There is currently no standard for 5G deployments. The Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance says that 5G should be rolled out in the U.S. by 2020. — MacDailyNews, December 3, 2018
SEE ALSO:
Why you should not waste your money on a ‘5G’ phone in 2019 – February 9, 2019
Apple will wait until at least 2020 to release a 5G iPhone – December 3, 2018
More evidence that Apple’s building its own cellular modem – July 31, 2017
Apple’s next-gen iPhones said to lack 5G modem to match rivals’ data speed – June 9, 2017
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]