Apple Will Wait Until at Least 2020 To Release a 5G iPhone: Report (bloomberg.com) 107
Apple plans to hold off until at least 2020 before offering an iPhone that can connect to the next generation of high-speed phone services coming next year, Bloomberg reported Monday. From the report: The delay may make it easier for rivals like Samsung Electronics to win over consumers to phones that connect to 5G networks, which will provide a leap forward in mobile data speeds when they are introduced in 2019. As with 3G and 4G, the two previous generations of mobile technology, Apple will wait as long as a year after the initial deployment of the new networks before its main product gets the capability to access them, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the company's plans.
Apple's previous calculations -- proven correct -- were that the new networks and the first versions of rival smartphones would come with problems such as spotty coverage, making consumers less compelled to immediately make the jump. This time, 5G boosters argue the switch is a much bigger speed upgrade, making Apple's decision to wait riskier. The networks will open the floodgates to new types of mobile computing, 5G advocates say.
Apple's previous calculations -- proven correct -- were that the new networks and the first versions of rival smartphones would come with problems such as spotty coverage, making consumers less compelled to immediately make the jump. This time, 5G boosters argue the switch is a much bigger speed upgrade, making Apple's decision to wait riskier. The networks will open the floodgates to new types of mobile computing, 5G advocates say.
Am I the only one... (Score:5, Insightful)
...who needs better reception far more than better throughput? I can live comfortably with 4G if it actually performs as it should.
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4G has gotten worse (Score:3)
I find it weird that 4G throughput has gotten worse with time too. 3 bars used to be great now it's sluggish. I suppose that's because there are so many other phones now.
I suspect the benefit of 5G might be higher channel capacity not higher peak speed will restore the throughput we once had.
Re:4G has gotten worse (Score:5, Insightful)
I think it is just we have a bigger data requirement.
The early G4 Phones mostly had screens that were smaller, and with bigger pixels, and slower processors. Sites at the time who mode data for these phones, factored in such limitations. So they downloaded smaller pictures, and downloaded smaller data sets because their processors would take too long to render. Now the phones are expected to be hooked by Wi-Fi and will download a lot more data.
Re:4G has gotten worse (Score:4, Insightful)
I think it is just we have a bigger data requirement.
^^^
this.
It's Parkinson's law: data requirements expand to fill the bandwidth available.
Whether or not there's any reason you need more data.
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What are people doing on phones that eat up so much data??
I mean, for the most part, don't you use a phone for voice, texting, and while I don't I know others use FB and other social media, but I can't really see the data needs being so high just for that?
Occasionally if I'm dining out alone or something, I might stream a movie or tv show (or use the phone as a hotspot for my tablet), but that's kinds rare.
So...what are other people doing that I"m not that requires and eats up so much d
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I have an hour+ bus ride each way, every day. If I were minded to, I could watch a lot of video. I usually nap, though.
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If I was watching an hour of video on commute every day, I'd be more apt to queue it up offline (Netflix offers offline mode, or download torrents at home and load onto the phone). Mostly to not hit data cap, but also so it will keep working through coverage deadspots. Likewise I have offline playlists on Google Play Music to not tie up too much bandwidth.
This is how I listen to music at the gym, and watch videos while doing cardio. The gym is in a basement so cell coverage is spotty at best.
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Well keep in mind, the new phones now have 4k screens, on them, so just for the fancy logo in the corner for it to download it would take megs. Then we have JQuery and Angular js libaries on most sights that get downloaded. Pictures and videos will often stream even before you see them. We have all these ads that send back and forth your personal data.
But compared to the G3 Phones and today the biggest thing is the amount of video watched.
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I think it is just we have a bigger data requirement.
^^^
this.
It's Parkinson's law: data requirements expand to fill the bandwidth available.
Whether or not there's any reason you need more data.
This is it.
If you're reading a news article (for example), requirements haven't really changed since print. You want some text, and a few images. Text is very bandwidth efficient, and the pictures you usually only glance at are 2.5"x1.5" and don't need to be super high res. Even if you have an 8k phone, you're scrolling by. Click to load a larger picture.
But webpages include bundled custom fonts you don't care about, 93 tracking JavaScript plugins for social media sites and ads, 15 JavaScript frameworks whe
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It doesn't seem like that can continue indefinitely though. Beyond 4K streaming, unless 8K takes off the average user would have to purposely come up with ways to use more bandwidth than that.
Re:Am I the only one... (Score:4, Insightful)
I find it hard to care at all... and I'm a heavy data user.
For me, mobile data speeds are MORE than good enough. I can stream high-quality TV, I can stream music I can browse the web as fast as I can on my wifi at home. What more is there to want on a phone?
Now - 5G is interesting for _other_ mobile data uses (like laptop connections). But I seriously couldn't care less less about 5G on my phone.
Even at home I'm struggling to find the need for more bandwidth from my internet service provider. I have 200Mbps... but they offer 1Gbps. Even with two 4k TVs constantly streaming (although not always constantly streaming 4k) I fail to find any fault in 200Mbps. Also, my fiance and I both work at home and I do a lot of data movement for my job - but 200Mbps is STILL tons.
Last month at my house we pulled down around 1.3TB of data (40GB a day)... but I still don't see a need for more than 200Mbps.
So if that's good enough at my house... what in the hell do I need 5G for on my phone?
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I think the reason for 5G is that it can handle a lot more connections at high speed. It will prevent your speed from slowing as more people connect.
Re: Am I the only one... (Score:3)
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...who needs better reception far more than better throughput? I can live comfortably with 4G if it actually performs as it should.
Well, no. Without reception your speed is practically zero.
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Apple is rarely on the leading edge of technology. Their business model is to take existing tech and refine it. They will let other companies to make all the mistakes first and then build it again while trying to clear out many of the mistakes.
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Well it is more innovative then most companies, who just blatantly copy the older technology warts and all. There is an innovative nature to this refinement that Apple is good at. We will normally get use to the problems with technology and quickly fail to see its problems. Think of the "QWERTY" keyboard. How many people actually use the DVORAK keyboard or the other alternate methods? It isn't that QWERTY is better (it was designed to slow down the typist, to prevent jamming) but because we all use it, and
Re: It takes time to try and steal Qualcomms tech. (Score:2)
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Apple tends to wait and let others be the pioneers and die of dysentery first. The iPod is the first example where Apple was not new to the market, but hopped in once it was being established.
I would probably give Apple a year or two until they start advertising the "fastest bandwidth for iPhone ever". In the meantime, we will see some more "S" releases, similar to how the iPhone 8 was to the 7.
At least 2020 (Score:3)
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Sure, because nothing says quality like annoying people when you think your phone is externally silent...
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Well this is Slashdot, we need a reason to rage against Apple for something.
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Well this is Slashdot, we need a reason to rage against Apple for something.
THIS!
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And even in 2020 most people are still unlikely to have much 5G coverage to soeak of.
5G rollout will take years (Score:3)
The delay may make it easier for rivals like Samsung Electronics to win over consumers to phones that connect to 5G networks, which will provide a leap forward in mobile data speeds when they are introduced in 2019.
5G networks may be introduced in 2019 but they are hardly going to be ubiquitous. It's going to take years for them to roll out to cover the amount of area current 4G and LTE networks cover now. Samsung might be able to poach some customers from Apple but it's not going to be a mass exodus even in the worst case. The only thing that will get people to shift away from Apple in large numbers is if Apple produces a weapons grade stinker of an iPhone.
Re:5G rollout will take years (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:5G rollout will take years (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm pretty sure you are alone, else you wouldn't need your own tower!
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$1400? (Score:2)
It's $999 for Xs
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Upgrade to enough space to hold more than the stock apps and you easily hit $1500.
You DO realize, of course, that easily-disprovable statements like that just make you look like MORE of an idiot than you do already, right?
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Then why didn't you disprove him?
Funny, that... ;-)
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Want Apple to agree to let your replace the battery and use the phone longer than a year without massive slowdowns? You're going to need to shell out for that too.
Really?
My iPhone 6 Plus has its original battery, and it shows 93% capacity remaining and NO "slowdowns".
Try again, Hater.
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Not to mention the additional $120/year if you want to use iCloud to actually store anything beyond half a backup of the phone.
Of course, that's COMPLETELY optional.
Plus, you can also backup your iPhone to your Personal Computer for FREE, using iTunes.
Also, There are several things that iCloud Backup does NOT waste space on, like, for example, Apps, or anything else already retrievable from iCloud; so your worst-case example (an iPhone with 512 GB) could very possibly not have over 200 GB of actual Data to Back-up; so that reduces the cost to $3/month, or $35/year.
https://support.apple.com/en-u... [apple.com]
And, quite frankly, not very many p
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There's a tiny percentage of people who buy new phones every year. Apple is basically making their design decisions based on them plus idiots who don't know any better.
Boy have YOU been guzzling the Hatorade!
If Apple was basing the design decisions on people who upgrade their iPhones every year, then why in the HELL would they have SPECIFICALLY designed iOS 12 to NOT ONLY support EVERY 64-bit iPhone, all the way back to the iPhone 5s, but ALSO to SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVE the PERFORMANCE of OLDER HARDWARE? They even made a point of that point at the iPhone "Event" in September.
So sorry; your meme is unsupported by the FACTS.
As usual with blind Apple Hatred...
Re: (Score:1)
Citation required
Easily done!
https://www.cultofmac.com/5711... [cultofmac.com]
https://9to5mac.com/2018/06/05... [9to5mac.com]
https://appleinsider.com/artic... [appleinsider.com]
https://www.engadget.com/2018/... [engadget.com]
https://www.imore.com/how-ios-... [imore.com]
ET FUCKING CETERA...
Any questions?
Re: (Score:2)
The problem is that as more people overload 4G networks, the solution will be the 5G networks and Apple users will be stuck with overloaded 4G networks.
Odd that Apple, which in the past has been eager to embrace new technology such as Lightning, USB C, etc. (some would say before its time) now is a laggard.
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The first iPhone didn't support 3g. Other than USB, Apple pretty much lags behind on new technology uptakes.
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The problem is that as more people overload 4G networks, the solution will be the 5G networks and Apple users will be stuck with overloaded 4G networks.
Odd that Apple, which in the past has been eager to embrace new technology such as Lightning, USB C, etc. (some would say before its time) now is a laggard.
Apple INVENTED "Lightning", they didn't "Embrace" it.
And many other posters on this thread have agreed that rolling-out 5G support at this point would be premature, as the infrastructure won't really be there for a few more years.
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You always embrace the ones you love.
Bleeding edge (Score:2)
The problem is that as more people overload 4G networks, the solution will be the 5G networks and Apple users will be stuck with overloaded 4G networks.
Apple's going to move to 5G, just evidently not in the next 12 months. The rollout will take FAR longer than that so it's a sensible decision. I'm sure they'll be offering a 5G iPhone long before the scenario you outline comes to pass. 4G networks aren't going to get overloaded in the next 12-18 months.
Odd that Apple, which in the past has been eager to embrace new technology such as Lightning, USB C, etc. (some would say before its time) now is a laggard.
Apple isn't so much eager to embrace new tech as they are to get rid of old. They are rarely the first to a new technology but they are influential so they tend to be a trendsetter for the broader market.
Re: Bleeding edge (Score:2)
If you read through the comments here you'll see that people are already experiencing congested 4G.
No evidence (Score:2)
If you read through the comments here you'll see that people are already experiencing congested 4G.
I think that most people have no actual data to support that hypothesis outside of some corner cases. They just have a bad/slow connection and presume that must be the cause even thought they have no actual evidence to support that hypothesis. They can't rule it out so they are making an argument from ignorance [wikipedia.org]. The cellular providers aren't making congestion data available publicly so it's not clear in most cases how they would know with any real certainty. Just because your phone is having a slow/bad c
Re: No evidence (Score:2)
It's always entertaining to watch Apple fanboys rationalize Apple's mediocre, overpriced offerings.
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It's always entertaining to watch Apple fanboys rationalize Apple's mediocre, overpriced offerings.
Oh aren't you precious. Whether or not 4G congestion is a problem has nothing to do with Apple or fanboys. Either there are too many handsets for a tower to handle or there are not. If you want to refute the argument I made (which didn't mention or reference Apple even once) then please provide the evidence.
It's always entertaining to watch idiots resort to trolling people by accusing them of being fanboys when they have no actual evidence to support their argument.
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Re: 5G rollout will take years (Score:2)
Fast is longer than 12-18 months (Score:2)
It may happen faster than you think. Many cellular networks plan on retiring their older 2G and 3G kit for 5G.
I'm sure it will happen fairly fast but it isn't going to happen in just 12-18 months. This is people making a mountain out of a molehill. Apple has to build well over a hundred million iPhones each year and there is a development lead time and supply chain lead time. It takes time to design and source components in those sorts of volumes. Since 5G hasn't even hit the market yet, it would be a big risk for Apple to roll that out before the network technology is finalized and being installed and the roll
On paper, sure ... (Score:1)
The reality is, those 'floodgates' will be heavily constrained by the carriers who don't actually build networks to meet that level of load.
They'll have data caps, bandwidth throttling, and a whole host of things that will mean in reality the network will never be anywhere near capable of delivering these theoretical values.
Carriers love to advertise their awesome network, but we all know that it never actually delivers
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Indeed. I still only have 3G because it costs less for unlimited data than I can get 4G even just capped.
Sure, it's slower. It's fast enough for mobile use.
If the carriers want to sell me a 5G service then it needs to be cheap and available (i.e. not capped). Fast is just a bonus.
"5G advocates say" (Score:1)
Should be evangelists. There is a religious fervour that 5G is going to make a noticeable impact.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5G#Performance_Targets
Note performance without 6GHZ+ signalling it will be roughly like 4G (most carriers have apparently been making all the basic wins over 4G for years).
Prediction: first 6 months 5G is really nippy everywhere, while no one has it. 1 year later, indistinguishable from 4G, has happened every generation.
5G just benefits the carriers to keep up with demand, and to do
tired discussion (Score:1)
My specs are bigger than your specs. Apple has never competed on specs, as the market has proven, they are competing and often winning on the user experience.
Re: tired discussion (Score:2)
I would argue that it's not even about specs. Apple doesn't think 5G will be in enough places when it will be rolled out in 2019 to merit making a 5G phone until 2020. They were right about this when 3G and 4G were rolled out.
It's more like when Apple didn't make a 4K capable Apple TV until recently and was behind the other streaming gadgets to move to 4K. Considering that 4K TVs have only recently been cheap enough for the average person and there has not been much 4K content until recently, it probably d
AntennaGate redux (Score:1)
5G (in the millimeter bands) will require not only new modems, but also new antennas and positioning. It is going to be hard to fit all the new required antennas (more than one) inside an iPhone with the limited space available to avoid another AntennaGate (you are holding it wrong).
Maybe they should fix 4G first. (Score:3)
I've had plenty of "4G" devices... iPhones, my Apple Watch, a couple of WiFi hotspots and Android test phones for work, and even a Blackberry that I won in a drawing at a conference. Between them, I've seen the performance of all four mobile carriers' networks in the US. And not a one of them has actually met the promised data rates of, as per Wikipedia and ITU Report M.2134-0:
100 megabits per second (Mbit/s)(=12.5 megabytes per second) for high mobility communication (such as from trains and cars) and 1 gigabit per second (Gbit/s) for low mobility communication (such as pedestrians and stationary users).
Since they all lied about providing "4G" in the first place, but still used it in their marketing to jack up their pricing; I'm not particularly confident that the carriers will bother to actually roll out the 20GB capacity that's mandated for 5G. But I'm pretty sure they'll lie again, and use the 5G name to raise prices... again.
Yeah, I know it's laughable with this administration. But I, for one, think that the carriers should be forced... through severe sanctions and crippling fines topped off with a revocation of their licenses if they still fail to comply with the spec... to fix their 4G networks to deliver those promised rates, before they're allowed to jump into the "5G" game. (And needless to say, they should be severely sanctioned again if they fail to meet the 5G spec once they start selling the service and devices.)
Again... I know... pipe dreams, and all that. But one can still *HOPE* for the telecoms corps to be held accountable for their malfeasance.
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5G is so much faster you could blow through your monthly quota in a less than a minute. No single user needs that much speed. But reducing the amount of time each in
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Rather Have a Keyboard on My Phone (Score:2)
Cutting the Cord (Score:2)
I'm sure that every phone will support 5G in the future, but for me the exciting possibility is that it becomes realistic competition for the telco's broadband services. With 5G on its way and SpaceX getting the green light for its LEO satellite constellation, I think the writing is on the wall for crappy telco package deals and bandwidth caps. We can hope anyway...
Apple doesn't know backwards compatibility? (Score:2)
As an owner of a LTE-A device in a city which didn't have an LTE-A network I'm genuinely confused by Apple's announcement. Mind you there's no surprise about this announcement in the slightest. They have been behind the curve on adopting every new wireless technology ever in their phones. They were one of the last for 3G, middle of the pack for 4G, slow to release LTE-A, they have been a generation behind in all Bluetooth standards and a generation behind the competition in WiFi too.
Why should this be any d
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A year and a half is not long and I still remember the first LTE chip from Qualcomm,- it would drain your battery in no time turning your phone into a toaster.
Reportedly the first 5G chipsets from both Intel and QC are to be avoided for similar reasons, not to mention bugs and compatibility issues being ironed out for second generation.
The main problem solved by 5G is congestion in the cell tower and while that'll be nice I can wait a bit longer.
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Oh I agree the technology can wait. What I'm calling out is this absurd idea that Apple should apologies for something they have been doing from day one and at the same time offering an absurd and completely bullshit excuse.
Say it like it is. You just gave a good rational reason for not being an early adopter. Apple could learn from your response.
Planned obsolescence, again (Score:4, Interesting)
Apple is right, coverage will be spotty at first, deployment will take time.
However, it won't take long before it becomes an essential feature. And only then, Apple will release a 5G iPhone, and those who bought last year model will buy the new one for that reason.
Smartphone are starting to face the same problem as PCs, people don't need to upgrade because the old one is good enough for just about everything, and things are slowing down even more. 5G will be a real upgrade, and apple will make sure to time it well in order to maximize their sales.
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Not to mention that the first gen 5G phones will probably be brick sized and have lousy battery life.
My wife had one of the first gen 4G LTE Verizon phones from HTC, and you would use that damn thing as a weapon.
Issue is not the 5G speed (Score:2)
Maybe I'm an outlier, but why would I want faster / more bandwidth if my carrier still caps me at x GB per month, and charges me overage? (ok, ok, for some uses, like voice, etc. of course it matters)
But until the carriers roll out a proportionally larger cap because now they can deliver more, what benefit does the consumer see an
Sounds legit (Score:1)