MacBook Air and Pro with M1 opens the door to 5G. It can’t come soon enough

This story is part of Apple event, our comprehensive coverage of the latest news from Apple HQ.

On Tuesday, Apple spent 45 minutes breathlessly describing the benefits of custom-designed chip, the M1, power your new Macs. Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, talked about the energy saving benefits, which allow the longest battery life for MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. He also talked about how quickly computers would start up and run programs, such as on Mac Mini.

Still, it’s what Apple hasn’t spent time on that could hold the most promise for Apple’s new silicon-based Mac lineup: 5G.

Cellular laptops have been around for years, but they are largely a niche category serving road warriors. Then came the coronavirus, which changed, like so many other things, the way we viewed connectivity and how we all work. Pair that with a 5G network that’s starting to mature, promising higher speeds and better coverage in the years to come, and the idea of ​​a permanently connected MacBook Air or Pro looks appealing.

“Since remote working is going to be a permanent part of the business in some way, shape or form, 5G laptops could become a mainstay of the business,” said Linn Huang, analyst at IDC.

Because Apple’s chips are based on the Arm architecture of the mobile processors that power all smartphones and tablets, they’re already extremely comfortable with cellular radios. Specifically, these types of processors know how to balance the power management issues that come with a persistent cellular connection, so adding these radios is a cinch.

So why not yet a 5G MacBook?

This marks the first generation of Macs running on Apple silicon, and the company probably didn’t want to release a leaflet on relatively new technology because it had so many other fundamentals to consider, like processor speed, application compatibility and power management. The hardware and features are the same as previous Macs, so Apple didn’t take any chances.

An Apple spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Adding 5G – a feature customers aren’t asking for yet – hardly makes sense at this point.

“Apple’s strong Mac results last quarter certainly suggest that the lack of cellular connectivity is not holding Apple back,” said Avi Greengart, analyst at Techsponential.

The company’s Mac sales accounted for 7.7% of the total PC market, a notch higher than a year ago, according to Gartner.

Apple has also just unveiled its iPhone 12 family of handsets, where 5G plays a prominent role. The company was over a year and a half behind the competition when it came to releasing a 5G phone, so there’s probably no rush to add it to another category of devices.

With 5G networks still in their infancy – nationwide coverage is sadly slow, and ultra-high speeds are only found in small pockets of large population centers – the immediate tangible benefits of connectivity are still quite limited.

But analysts believe 5G will play an increasingly important role in laptops at some point – think a generation or two from now. Operators will be keen to offer yet another product that they can connect to their networks. And while you might hate the idea of ​​another addition to your wireless bill, it might be an option for your employer to get you a connected laptop.

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The idea of ​​opening your laptop virtually anywhere and getting a connection without looking for a Wi-Fi hotspot, after all, is pretty appealing.

While Apple uses Qualcomm modems for its iPhones, the company is quietly working on its own modems. The company, after all, spent $ 1 billion to acquire Intel’s cellular radio business and talent.

Your IT manager probably likes the idea too. A 5G connection is more secure than a public Wi-Fi network. Paying for 5G service on a Mac is much simpler than trying to figure out how much a business should contribute to your home broadband connection, Huang noted. With the coronavirus lockdown forcing companies to rethink how and where their employees work, and as distance becomes a sustainable standard, 5G could offer a lifeline to your corporate IT.

Apple’s event to show off the new Macs is its third major product unveiling in as many months. Going this route, rather than announcing them in a press release or low-key media briefing, shows that the company thinks these Macs, and where they want to lead their evolution using Apple silicon, are a big deal.

Evolution is very likely to take a path that finds its way to 5G in the years to come.