Apple's first iPhone 5G will not be ready until 2020, according to a report

Image: lili sams / mashable

The first iPhone 5G Apple is still in two years. This is according to a new report, which indicates that the iPhone maker will not be ready for the 5G before 2020.

This would put Apple a year behind some of its Android competitors, who have announced plans to have 5G phones by 2019.

The news, which comes from Fast Company, quotes a single source who would have "knowledge of Apple's projects".

The report also seems to confirm what has long been another point of speculation: which company will provide 5G modems for the iPhone. This company will be Intel and only Intel, according to Fast Company.

This is notable because in the past, Apple had bought modems from two different companies: Intel and Qualcomm. But Apple threw Qualcomm unceremoniously at the start of the year in the middle of an ongoing legal battle between the two companies.

This leaves Intel as the sole provider, according to this report. There had been rumors that Apple was considering an agreement with MediaTek, the Chinese company, which recently launched its own 5G chip. But according to Fast Company, MediaTek is only a "plan B" option for Apple.

Before we get too excited about speculation, it would be useful to treat this report (and others like this one) with some skepticism. According to a report released in July, the iPhone 2020 would not use any Intel wireless chips. (At the time, Intel had stated that its 5G roadmap had not changed.)

In addition, we only have just finished the release cycle of the 2018 iPhones, so it is premature to speculate on upcoming iPhones in 2020. Many things can change so far, and we probably hear a lot more rumors about the supply chain of Apple and what it means for the future iPhone, over the next two years.

That said, it's obvious that the 2020 calendar of the first iPhone 5G has been backed up – mainly as it fits the schedule of what we already know about 5G readiness.

Even though we are just beginning to see operators embrace 5G networks, we know that it will take some time for the technology to be widely available. And even after operators are ready for 5G, phone manufacturers will have to adopt the necessary modems for their handsets to be able to use them. Some companies are committed to doing so by 2019, but Apple is not the type to get into the new technologies just to be the first.

The Fast Company report also states that Intel is having problems with its modems that could have a negative impact on battery life – a problem that Apple will probably want to avoid.

So, given what we know about Apple and the readiness of the 5G, the year 2020 would certainly be the first one we expected from an iPhone 5G.