Hey everyone, welcome back to tech feed. I’m juliet beauchamp and today i’m giving you some updates regarding apple’s 5-g plans. How close are we getting a 5-g iphone? Stick around.
Okay, so you might remember how the other week i reported on apple settling a lawsuit with qualcomm. And that settlement ended in a six-year licensing deal between the two companies. And that’s important because qualcomm can build the 5-g modems required for a 5-g iphone. That 5-g iphone is allegedly coming in 2020. But plenty of apple’s android competitors have already released phones that are marketed as 5-g.
So yeah, apple has ample reason to rush into the 5-g market. That being said, it’s important to remember that 5-g enabled phones don’t mean much right now since we don’t have much of the next generation infrastructure required for 5-g networks. But enough about the fact any current 5-g phones aren’t anything special yet… let’s focus more on the inevitable 5-g iphone and what new details about apple may reveal about the company’s 5-g goals.
There’s speculation apple might be looking to build its own 5-g modems, which would be a huge change for its supply chain. There’s been some changes within the business to reflect this and suggest a focus on 5-g development. The 5-g chip team joined the hardware tech department around the same time the previous 5-g head at apple left the company. Then apple poached intel’s 5-g lead--this is huge considering that before the qualcomm deal, apple was allegedly in talks to buy intel’s modem business. And shortly after news broke about the deal between apple and qualcomm, intel announced it was exiting the 5-g modem business. And there’s reports that apple has upwards of two thousand engineers working on 5-g modem development.
So there’s lots of reports and plenty to infer from this recent news. And analysts think apple will eventually make its own 5-g modem to put in future iphones. But don’t expect that any time soon. This six year qualcomm settlement gives apple some time to development its own chips--wireless is tough, and so is navigating the world of 5-g intellectual property patents. There’s even some speculation apple may purchase assets and continue to hire talent from intel’s modem development team. Don’t expect any of the 5-g buzz to go away soon--as more manufacturers roll out 5-g capable devices and the push for infrastructure intensifies, you’ll probably hear more and more hype about these next generation networks.
Thanks for watching today’s episode of tech feed. If you liked this video be sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel. And let me know your thoughts on 5-g phones. Do you have one? Are you waiting to buy? Do you believe the hype? See you next time.