Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

iPhone may not get on the 5G bandwagon until 2020 at the earliest

Andy Boxall
By

If your excitement regarding 5G is already at a fever pitch — fueled by the endless promises of data speeds so fast our ears will bleed — but you are a staunch iPhone owner, the latest leaks have some bad (and entirely expected) news. Apple will apparently not release a 5G-capable iPhone until 2020 at the earliest.

The rumor comes from sources familiar with Apple’s plans, stating the company has decided to pass on 5G for the 2019 iPhone, and may even do the same for the 2020 model as well. This means owners of at least one, potentially two generations of future iPhone devices, 4G LTE will be the fastest possible connection available. Bloomberg, which reports on the rumor, says this may help rivals “win over consumers” in 2019 with 5G devices.

Recommended Videos

Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus, and many other manufacturers are expected to launch a 5G smartphone in 2019, with some coming before midyear. They will be the first phones to connect to a 5G network, leaving Apple behind in terms of connectivity. However, the first 5G networks will not cover wide areas, and will be restricted to certain cities around the world. While carriers in the U.S. are promising 5G will be operational in 2019, widespread coverage will likely not come until 2020 or later.

Related

It’s entirely possible this is one of Apple’s reasons for not including the technology. It didn’t introduce a 4G LTE iPhone, or even a 3G iPhone until other manufacturers had already broken the new connectivity in, and the coverage was high enough that more consumers could take advantage of it. It’s therefore not a surprise it intends to do the same with 5G.

While 5G is a large generational jump, in that it’s significantly faster and more capable than 4G LTE, it brings with it some new challenges including power management, and may force some design changes on early devices too. As has been the case in the past, until Apple deems a feature worthy of integrating into an iPhone, it will simply ignore it. We may see faster 4G LTE modems inside next year’s iPhones to compensate for any differences, as carriers will continue to develop 4G networks for a while yet.

Apple may frustrate early adopters with a decision to ignore 5G until the next generation of data connectivity is ready (or at least more prepared) for prime time, but it arguably has never cared about early adopters in the past, with few long-term consequences.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Andy Boxall
Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Visible’s affordable 5G plans just got even cheaper
The Visible logo on a smartphone.

Visible has a new offer that can help you save significant money when switching to its service. Both Visible and Visible+ packages are now available for purchase upfront on an annual basis. These new annual plans are available for new Visible customers starting today, while existing customers will gain access to them this May.

With this new deal, the Visible+ plan costs $395 per year when paid upfront instead of $540 when paid in 12 monthly installments of $45 each. This means you can save $145, which is 26%. That's an incredible savings. When paying upfront for the regular Visible plan, it will cost $275 per year, saving you $25. If you pay for it monthly, the standard Visible plan costs $25 per month (or $300 per year).

Read more
3 reasons why I’ll actually use Anker’s new iPhone power bank
A person holding the Anker MagGo Power Bank.

Power banks are a necessary evil, and even if you don’t consider yourself a “power user” who's likely to drain a phone’s battery in less than a day, there will be times when one comes in handy. And when I am forced to carry one, I want it to be as helpful and versatile as possible.

I’ve been trying Anker’s MagGo Power Bank 10K -- meaning it has a 10,000mAh cell inside it -- and there are three reasons why I'm OK with it taking up valuable space in my bag.
It has a screen on it

Read more
Here’s how Apple could change your iPhone forever
An iPhone 15 Pro Max laying on its back, showing its home screen.

Over the past few months, Apple has released a steady stream of research papers detailing its work with generative AI. So far, Apple has been tight-lipped about what exactly is cooking in its research labs, while rumors circulate that Apple is in talks with Google to license its Gemini AI for iPhones.

But there have been a couple of teasers of what we can expect. In February, an Apple research paper detailed an open-source model called MLLM-Guided Image Editing (MGIE) that is capable of media editing using natural language instructions from users. Now, another research paper on Ferret UI has sent the AI community into a frenzy.

Read more