Apple prepares to test 5G cellular for future iPhones & other devices
Apple has filed an application with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to start testing 5G connectivity, laying the groundwork for its first capable hardware.
The company is hoping to test in the 28- and 39-gigahertz bands, using technology from Rohde & Schwarz, A.H. Systems, and Analog Devices, according to documents obtained by Business Insider. One test site will be at Yosemite Drive in Milpitas, Calif., while another will be on Mariani Avenue in Cupertino, next to Apple's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop.
Apple expects to run tests for a period "not to exceed 12 months," which could imply that the company expects to support the technology in next year's "iPhone 9." U.S. carriers are unlikely to have any substantial 5G coverage until 2020 -- but trials are getting underway this year, and internationally, South Korea's Samsung and KT should have 5G ready for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Other phone makers are already working on support, among them Motorola, which is promising to ship the first compatible phones later in 2017.
5G connections should enable speeds far in excess of LTE, potentially upwards of 1 gigabit per second. That could once again put cellular connections ahead of most landlines and allow things that were previously considered difficult or impossible with LTE, such as virtual reality or remote surgery. Similarly, self-driving cars like Apple's project might be able to use 5G to fetch cloud data or communicate with other vehicles.
Notably, the 28-gigahertz band Apple is testing on is dedicated to ground-to-space transmissions. In April a report revealed that Apple had hired two executives from Google's satellite wing to form a "new hardware team."
The company is hoping to test in the 28- and 39-gigahertz bands, using technology from Rohde & Schwarz, A.H. Systems, and Analog Devices, according to documents obtained by Business Insider. One test site will be at Yosemite Drive in Milpitas, Calif., while another will be on Mariani Avenue in Cupertino, next to Apple's headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop.
Apple expects to run tests for a period "not to exceed 12 months," which could imply that the company expects to support the technology in next year's "iPhone 9." U.S. carriers are unlikely to have any substantial 5G coverage until 2020 -- but trials are getting underway this year, and internationally, South Korea's Samsung and KT should have 5G ready for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Other phone makers are already working on support, among them Motorola, which is promising to ship the first compatible phones later in 2017.
5G connections should enable speeds far in excess of LTE, potentially upwards of 1 gigabit per second. That could once again put cellular connections ahead of most landlines and allow things that were previously considered difficult or impossible with LTE, such as virtual reality or remote surgery. Similarly, self-driving cars like Apple's project might be able to use 5G to fetch cloud data or communicate with other vehicles.
Notably, the 28-gigahertz band Apple is testing on is dedicated to ground-to-space transmissions. In April a report revealed that Apple had hired two executives from Google's satellite wing to form a "new hardware team."
Comments
2) I'd be very surprised if this shows up in any device in 2018.
I can understand testing, but releasing! C'mon Motorola, what's the point?
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Verizon-Shows-Off-Millimeter-Wave-Home-Router-Antenna-139067
With that in mind, handset manufacturers need to be '5G ready' in advance, especially if models will overlap with public availability.
It's also a great marketing badge and will be used to sell phones in countries where 5G is available but not everywhere. Take 4G for example. It was first available in major cities but all handset manufacturers needed to do was put 4G into the specs and market them countrywide. It didn't matter if the phone had no network to actually connect to (smaller cities, rural areas etc). Users thought they were somehow receiving it (because 4G was marketed in such a big way) or future proofing their purchase.
In that sense I can see the logic in Motorola's plans. Everyone will follow suit, including Apple of course, even if 5G won't really gain traction until 2020/2021.
Will this 5G make broadband obsolete?
Depending on pricing, I can imagine that doing cloud backups over fibre for example from your home could work out cheaper than via 5G although it is true that in my part of the world there are a lot of services are rolled up into one converged packet so I have a fixed line, various mobile lines, mobile data, ADSL, etc in one deal.
Once all broadband is all fibre and 5G is here I hope VoIP improves in quality.
Copper has not been improved in this area for five years because of the plans to lay fibre although my VoIP was dreadful way before they went into low maintenance mode on copper. There are plans to shut down the copper service altogether soon.
As for 5G I hope it doesn't suffer much in in high heat, high humidity, hilly areas by the sea. 4G seems to.have been stable so far.
I'll be keeping an eye on the reports from Hong Kong when the 5G pilot starts there as conditions there are similar to mine in some regards.