Apple’s plan to launch 5G iPhone may get delayed as Intel has failed to meet their deadline. (Image source: Bloomberg)It seems Apple’s plan to roll out a 5G iPhone by 2020 may get delayed by almost a year as its main component supplier Intel is unlikely to deliver the required 5G-compatible modems on time, Fast Company reported.
Intel was the sole provider of the 5G modems in the 2020 iPhones, but it has been missing deadlines for the development of the chip- XMM 8160 5G modem, which is a key component Apple is relying on to add 5G capabilities, the report said citing a source with the knowledge of this situation.
Apple was expecting to launch their first 5G iPhone device by September 2020, however, to do this, the first sample modems by Intel should be delivered for testing by early summer this year, and the finished design needs to be ready by early next year.
In November, Intel said it will have the modems ready for shipping in second half of 2019, but the delays in their development mean that it is likely that the company will miss that deadline, the report said.
The potential delay will put Apple in tough spot as it has already been late in the 5G race. Competitors such as Samsung, Xiaomi and Huawei have already launched their respective 5G smartphones, so any further delay would push Apple two years behind its competition.
“We do not believe [Intel] will be ready with a single chip backward compatible 5G modem, while others like Samsung/Mediatek are unlikely solutions either technically (Mediatek) or practically (Samsung),” UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri wrote in a research note.
Also read: Apple iPhone XR gets special discount for HDFC customers, price starts at Rs 53,900
Meanwhile Apple seems to be readying itself to design their own modem chips. The iPhone-maker has now got a team of 1,000 to 1,200 engineers, who are working on the modem chips for future iPhones, the report said quoting the source. However, the effort will only pay off for iPhones to be launched in 2021 and beyond.
