You’ve probably heard carriers begin to talk about 5G coming soon. While no carrier has officially rolled out the tech, and there have been various implementations, it’s coming sooner rather than later.
According to a report from Fast Company, Apple is planning to bring 5G to its iPhone in 2020. It says that Apple will be using Intel’s 8161 5G modem, and aligns with reports that the company plans on ditching Qualcomm and using Intel as its sole provider for cellular modems.
Despite Apple wanting to cut ties with Qualcomm, the company is reportedly not happy with the progress Intel is making with its 8060 modems. Apparently, Intel isn’t able to reduce heat dissipation with its latest chips. This is important as U.S. carriers Verizon and AT&T plan on using millimeter-wave spectrum (between 30 and 300 Ghz) for its 5G networks.
Another issue is battery life. Any sort of heat generation will cause a decrease in battery life, similar to what we saw with early 4G LTE phones.
However, Intel isn’t worried. It reportedly says that the issues should get resolved soon and that it’s not serious enough for Apple to go back to Qualcomm. However, Intel is concerned that Apple may have a “Plan B” in the works with chip maker MediaTek about potentially supplying modem chips.
