2020 may be a significant year for Apple, as a trusted analyst now claims it'll be in that year where the Cupertino brand releases three new iPhones that support 5G.
Veteran industry insider Ming-Chi Kuo asserts that all of the three iPhones due in 2020 will boast 5G connectivity. This makes plenty of sense. Networks are beginning to roll out each of their 5G platforms around the world, and phone manufacturers too are starting to release phones that'll be able to take advantage of the forthcoming network standard.
2020 5G iPhone
Apple has been widely expected to roll out a 5G capable phone in 2020, and now Kuo asserts that the company will, and not just one, but three, though it's immediately clear what these models are going to look like, not to mention what specs they'll each have.
Last month, Kuo said that 2020's 5.4-inch and 6.7-inch iPhone models would boast 5G capabilities, while a third model, supposedly a cheaper 6.1-inch iPhone XR successor, would be limited to just LTE networks. In his new report, however, via MacRumors, he says all three, including the cheaper one, will get 5G.
"Apple has more resource for developing the 5G iPhone after the acquisition of Intel baseband business," notes Kuo. Apple recently bought Intel's modem business, a massive yet unsurprising conclusion to its legal spat with Qualcomm over proprietary chips and components.
Is Apple Even Ready For 5G?
However, MacRumors notes that Apple is not quite ready to break away from Qualcomm entirely despite its latest purchase, and that the company likely won't be able to use its own baseband until at least 2021.
There's an enormous confusion as to what 5G really is, a conundrum of semantics made worse by AT&T's "fake 5G" antics several months past, which saw a "5G E" logo appear on many customers' phones even though it was not, in fact, "true" 5G but merely "5G Evolution," which is what the company calls its advanced 4G LTE network.
On that front, Kuo says that he expects most Android phones will support the sub-6 GHz variant of 5G, not the mmWave versions, which offers greater speed. Still, people will think that 5G is necessary in 2020, added the analyst, which is to say Apple will have a reason to sell those new iPhones at much higher prices compared to now. It's interesting to see how all this will play out, so make sure to check back with Tech Times as we learn more.
