Apple’s planning on launching 5G-enabled MacBooks next year, according to a fresh ‘leak’ from the Digitimes.
The report broke early on Friday and suggests: “The world’s top-3 notebook vendors Lenovo, HP and Dell are set to introduce their first 5G models in the second half of 2019, and Apple is also expected to roll out its 5G MacBook series in the second half of 2020, according to industry sources.”
We already knew Lenovo and company are working on 5G notebooks. Qualcomm and Lenovo revealed the news all the way back in March at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. The laptops are expected to run using the next version of Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon CPU, which will feature a 5G modem.
The 2020 MacBooks will likely run using an Apple made modem we haven’t heard of yet. Apple bought Intel’s modem business earlier this month in a bid to expand it’s in-house components. The news followed widespread issues with Intel’s 5G modem production which, according to previous reports, radically delayed Apple’s iPhone development road map.
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Prior to the Digitimes’ report the purchase was primarily believed to be designed to help Apple add 5G connectivity to its iPhone line. The company reportedly plans to release its first 5G iPhone next year, meaning the fabled iPhone 11 won’t have the tech.
Further details about what other changes the company may have planned for its MacBook line remain unknown. There have been constant rumours the company plans to take CPU production in-house and replace the Intel chips traditionally used in MacBook’s with Apple-made parts.
The addition of 5G support could be a key boon for the fabled next-gen MacBooks and iPhones. 5G is a next generation networking technology that launched in select parts of the UK earlier this year.
The tech sits alongside the existing 4G infrastructure and aims to offer users gigabit-per-second data speeds. These will let users do things like download entire TV series in minutes and stream demanding triple-A games over the cloud using services like Google Stadia.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.