The 5G MacBook might be coming next year - but it can be expensive
Share onComes to the market later than the competitors, but in return will offer superior performance, Digitimes writes.
We're pretty sure that next year's iPhone models will get 5G functionality and that Apple will use Qualcomm's 5G modem in these phones.
Comes to the market later than the competitors, but in return will offer superior performance, Digitimes writes.
We're pretty sure that next year's iPhone models will get 5G functionality and that Apple will use Qualcomm's 5G modem in these phones.
But it may not be the only iPhone that gets 5G next year. Digitimes now reports that MacBook computers will also receive 5G support as early as next year.
Also read: Apple buys Intel's modem department for $ 8.6 billion
Be beaten by competitors anyway
Taiwanese Digitimes has a somewhat messy history when it comes to predicting upcoming Apple launches. Sometimes they hit flashes, while other times they become some real bombs. Whether today's news falls into the latter category remains to be seen.
The site also states that Lenovo, HP, and Dell will be the first manufacturers to launch 5G machines. These are launching 5G machines sometime in the second half of this year. Apple will follow suit sometime in the second half of next year, writes Digitimes, citing industry sources.
Who laughs last, laughs best?
Although the company comes to market later than its competitors, Apple's 5G transmitter/receiver will offer higher efficiency and "superior" performance compared to them, the site claims.
This is because Apple uses a ceramic antenna card. According to MacRumors, such a card costs six times as much as a traditional metal antenna card but offers twice as high efficiency when it comes to transmitting and receiving 5G signals. Another reason why 5G-supported MacBook computers are expensive is that MacBooks are wrapped in metal. As a result, the machines require 13-15 antennas, as opposed to 11, which they need for a typical 5G smartphone.
Wanted to have 3G in MacBook Air from 2008
This is the first time we have heard of a 5G MacBook, and since Digitimes is reporting this, we should, as usual, have a healthy dose of information skepticism.
Still, there is no doubt that Apple will also once again offer 5G in their machines. The company has also played with the idea of mobile network connectivity in the past. Many years ago, the company was considering producing a MacBook Air with 3G connectivity. Former Apple boss and now-deceased Steve Jobs, however, said that Apple decided not to do so in 2008 when Air first launched. The reason at that time was that the 3G support would require too much space in the machine and that it would lock the user to a specific operator.
Never let go of the thought
Although the Air 3G machine never saw the light of day, the company never abandoned the idea of producing a mobile network machine. In 2016, Apple received two patents describing a method of implementing 4G on MacBook computers.
