Apple’s First 5G Phone Could Be Released in 2020

In November 2017, Intel announced substantial advances in its wireless product roadmap to accelerate the adoption of 5G. Intel’s early 5G silicon, the Intel® 5G Modem announced at CES 2017, is now successfully making calls over the 28GHz band. (Credit: Intel Corporation)

Numerous wireless carriers get ready for the arrival of the 5G connectivity, the upcoming cellular networking of the next generation that is said to provide customers with much higher transfer speed. Various phone makers have also started their preparations for the arrival of the new technology, doing all they can to develop their 5G devices sooner than their rivals. According to a recent report, Apple plans to release its first 5G phone sometime in 2020.

Apple might use Intel’s 8161 5G modem chip in its 5G phone

Last year, Apple was granted an approval of The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to start the works on the 5G technology, with a future goal of developing Apple’s own 5G phone. Fast Company based its report on “a source with knowledge of Apple’s plans”, according to which the American tech giant will release its 5G phone in 2020. The report also mentions that Apple will most likely use Intel’s 8161 5G modem chip, which still faces some serious issues with heat dissipation that must be resolved before Apple loses its patience. However, in case these problems cannot be fixed anytime soon, the company has a “Plan B” and sees MediaTek as alternative to Intel. Apparently, these two have been in touch for quite some time.

Intel’s Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips will not be used on Apple’s 2020 phone

All Apple’s phones that were released this year use Intel’s modems, but the company has other plans for its 2020 phone. Apparently, the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips created by Intel will not be used on Apple’s first 5G device, as the company could be the “main volume driver” for Intel’s modem. Intel itself stated recently that its “5G customer engagements and roadmap have not changed for 2018 through 2020. We remain committed to our 5G plans and projects”.

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