From 2019 to this year, the application of 5g technology has always been the focus of attention. In 2019, known as the first year of 5g, many mainstream mobile phone manufacturers have launched 5g mobile phone products. As a mobile phone giant, Apple has not made any news. When will 5g iPhone be launched?
Apple missed 5g mobile phone trend this year
Due to the deadlock in the lawsuit with Qualcomm, Apple will not only miss the 5g mobile phone trend in 2019, but also question whether the iPhone will launch 5g version in 2020.
According to Forbes on February 28, Apple's lawsuit with Qualcomm has made the situation more complicated. The 5g modem chip of chip giant Qualcomm has been ready for commercial use, which should be an obvious choice. However, the fierce lawsuit between apple and Qualcomm has made the investment bank Barclays think that there is not much time left for apple to bridge the gap between Intel and Qualcomm.
According to the report, the modem chip designed for the 2020 iPhone 'needs to be finalized now', while Intel's first 5g smartphone modem chip will not be shipped until late 2019, 'which is not in line with Apple's Timeline'.
As early as 2020
According to a report in November last year, Apple has appointed Intel as a 5g baseband supplier. However, analysts at Barclays believe that apple is not dead on the matter, because Intel's 5g baseband needs to be mass produced by the end of this year, and the progress is not as good as that of Qualcomm, which is not conducive to its business plan.
In addition, Tony Blevins, an apple supply chain executive, testified in the court confrontation between Qualcomm and FTC that he had held talks with Samsung and MediaTek on potential business cooperation. It's just not clear whether the latter two will enter the iPhone's 5g baseband chip supply. What's more, it has been reported that apple is still secretly promoting self-developed baseband.
Since Intel confirmed last week that its 5g baseband needs to wait until 2020 for commercial use, this year's three iPhones will not be available.
Some market participants said that with the popularity of 5g communication, there will be a new wave of phone changes. If Apple fails to release the 5g version of the iPhone in 2019, this is obviously not good news for apple, whose market share is declining.