Intel announced its first 5G modems in 2017 and has been talking about its technology ever since, but other competitors like Qualcomm have been doing the job for quite some time, so this summer we will have a small selection of smartphones with this next generation connection.
While the company promised that its most advanced modem, the Intel XMM8160, would arrive in the second half of 2019, industry sources now suggest that as well as not being available in time, mass production of these chips will not begin until 2020.
Sources, providers of IC services in Taiwan, have announced that in the second quarter of 2019 Intel and its cooperation partners will begin work on engineering projects that will enable mass production of 5G modem chips.
Intel is making efforts to compete with Qualcomm or even MediaTek, and Apple cannot afford to bring its first iPhone 5G to market by the third quarter of 2020, so sources have pointed out that Apple would be in talks with MediaTek to deliver its 5G modems as relations with Qualcomm are completely disrupted, which is the irony that Apple has changed Qualcomm for Intel, and not only that, but allegedly filtered the technology on Intel to help Intel.