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Almost every major player in the wireless industry is struggling to match their fortune with 5G. Verizon will launch next month its 5G Wireless Home Broadband service. Sprint and LG want to release the first smartphone using next generation technology.
A company is insensitive to the hype: Apple.
It's a safe bet that the titan of consumer electronics, which unveiled on Wednesday three new iPhones and a new Apple Watch, will refuse to put the 5G in its next iPhone. And it 's still a question of whether cell technology can appear in an iPhone by 2020.
Look at this:
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Apple likes to wait to take advantage of emerging technologies before engaging them in its products. It lagged behind its Android counterparts by adopting mobile payments and wireless charging, and it had at least a generation of adoption of cellular 3G and 4G LTE capabilities. Most industry analysts expect the same gap with 5G, even if the technology is moving towards reality.
"The 5G is coming a little faster than expected," said Ian Fogg, an OpenSignal analyst who collects and analyzes data from mobile networks.
If Apple takes the road in slow motion, it will become one of the few companies not to immediately adopt the 5G, the new generation of wireless technology. ready to change the world. There has been a lot of hype around the 5G, but its speed, responsiveness and ability to handle multiple devices beyond your phone could change our way of life.
Given the excitement of 5G, it's easy to see why other companies, ranging from wireless carriers like Verizon and T-Mobile to telecom equipment manufacturers like Nokia and phone makers like Samsung, are launch.
The fact that Apple has avoided 5G is further proof that the company needs no help to generate its own hype, as if this week launch of new, more expensive iPhones was not enough reminder.
The company was not available to provide a comment.
Slow follower
Ten years ago, the original iPhone marked a big step forward for smartphones. Its touch screen interface and full navigation capability, among other features, have revolutionized what could be a smartphone.
Except for this slow and slow cell connection. While we are sitting at the dawn of a 5G world, it is easy to forget that the original iPhone had a 2G radio. You have felt the network as a loaded website gradually.
At the time, other phones had already migrated to the 3G network faster. Apple only included this feature a year later with the second-generation iPhone 3G. Similarly, the first iPhone with a 4G LTE connection was the iPhone 5 of 2013, more than two years after Verizon unveiled its first batch of 4G smartphones.
Last year, while Android smartphones were supersonic with Gigabit LTE speeds, Apple remained true to this technology by introducing the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
Apple is just talking about Gigabit LTE. Android smartphones have been around for more than a year.
James Martin / CNET
It's only this year's iPhone XS, XS Max and XR that Apple has bet on Gigabit LTE. (Want to know more about network technology? Gigabit LTE Explainer.) The company has adopted to double access to the new LTE technology, leveraging the mature 4G network on the promise of 5G.
"I do not think they're in a hurry," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Creative Strategies.
Why slow adoption? Apple must consider its packaging in a smartphone and the number of people who can enjoy each feature. Gigabit LTE was only adopted in some markets around the world, which probably did not justify this development.
"The design of smartphones is a matter of compromise," Fogg said in a report. "It's impossible to integrate everything into a small portable device."
Competitive threshing
However, public awareness of cellular technology and the need for a fast connection are much more prevalent than when these 3G and 4G networks appeared. So when competitors start talking about 5G, Apple may not be able to ignore this message because consumers better understand this advantage.
The only advantage of Apple is that 5G deployments will be limited early, even in the United States, where operators aggressively promise multiple cities with next-generation service. Experts see wider adoption by 2020 or beyond.
Not that Apple could jump in 5G early if she wished. Qualcomm is provide the modems that will go in the first 5G smartphones, is expected to arrive in the first half of 2019. Apple has stopped using Qualcomm modems because of a dispute over the terms of his former relationship. Instead, it uses Intel modems.
"What complicates things is the current conflict with Qualcomm," said Ross Rubin, an analyst at Reticle Research.
Intel, which provides modems for the iPhone, says its 5G modem will be ready for commercial devices in the second half of 2019, with a wider deployment in 2020. The company, however, declined to talk about specific customers.
Qualcomm provides most 5G modems for smartphones in the first half of next year.
Roger Cheng / CNET
With the launch of 5G networks in the United States, Korea and China in the coming months, these operators will need compatible smartphones to talk about it. Apple may be faced with a situation in which leading global competitors, such as Samsung and Huawei, are touting the benefits of 5G to their carrier partners, giving them an edge. Huawei has already dropped Apple as the world's second largest handset maker.
Yet, that does not have too many analysts involved.
"I do not think it's necessary to have a 5G phone," said Maribel Lopez, an analyst at Lopez Research, adding that she thought Apple would head to 5G by 2020 at the earliest.
Apple goes there alone?
The other option is that Apple leverages the generation shift in network technology and brings the modem to the internal level.
This is not a ridiculous notion.
Apple already designs its own processor, the latest being the Bionic chip A12 power the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR. It has its own custom Bluetooth chip for faster connection to its AirPods and Beats earphones. According to Fogg, when Apple became more involved in camera technology in 2011, it went from a poor experience to one of the industry's first smartphones.
Apple has developed a lot of its technologies. So why not the modem?
James Martin / CNET
Building a modem is difficult. Qualcomm has spent decades perfecting the business, and there is a reason why Intel has struggled for years before winning at Apple's business. But Apple has the resources to invest in this area, and a deep dive would allow it to create a modem adapted to its products.
"It allows them to innovate at their own pace and do things differently," he said.
Do not hold your breath for this 5G modem to appear anytime soon.
The story was published on September 14 at 5 o'clock in the morning.
Update, September 15 at 7 am PT: To include additional comments on background and analysts.
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