Apple, no iPhone with 5G support before 2020
According to some insiders quoted by Bloomberg, Apple could be unprepared on 5G for the entire 2019. It is a story that has already been presented with the 3G and 4G.
There will be no iPhone with support for the next-generation 5G network in 2019. This is what Bloomberg reveals, citing sources that remain anonymous: Apple is planning to delay support for the newly designed networks, just as it did with the advent of previous technologies.
” As happened with 3G and 4G, the two previous generations of mobile technology, Apple will wait about a year after the initial distribution of new networks before its main product obtains the ability to access it “, writes Bloomberg mentioning, ” a source that asked not to be identified “. The reason? According to Apple, one of the many problems will be the lack of coverage of the 5G network, which obviously will not arrive anywhere in the early days.
However, it should be noted that the 5G will be the great innovation of all the smartphones of the competition next year, with the marketing departments that will probably base the promotion of the terminals on this aspect.
The 5G will offer a big jump in terms of network speed, and will be one of the main ” selling points ” of the next-generation devices. It would be a risk for Apple not to offer 5G terminals for the whole of 2019 and for a long part of 2020.
The Apple would be chasing its direct rivals, like Samsung, Huawei, which could take advantage of the delay on the iPhone and attract more users to their product line-ups. Even Oppo and OnePlus have spoken of 5G support since the early months of 2019.
It is clear that Apple’s decision to wait an additional year for the 5G support can be linked to the legal battle with Qualcomm, a leader in chip production for 5G modem.
Apple has made collaboration agreements with Intel, its chips are not yet available for commercialization, and will not be before 2019 forwarded (and probably not in volumes requested by Apple). Huawei and Samsung, on the other hand, have the necessary infrastructure to build their own chips, but obviously Apple wants to avoid being supplied by direct competitors in the same sector (and it is said that they have the required production capacities).
Analysts expect that the decision not to implement a 5G modem in the 2019 line-up will have an impact on the sales of the iPhone: ” Apple has always postponed the innovations in terms of mobile technology, ” said Mark Hung, an analyst quoted by Bloomberg. ” The past decisions have not had a significant impact, but with the 5G this could change, and if they wait until 2020, there might be sales repercussions. “
