Today, DigiTimes released a report that Apple are planning on releasing MacBooks with 5G cellular connectivity in 2020.
According to the report, Apple are looking at either the MacBook Air or MacBook Pro line to add the 5G chips too. The 5G antenna boards are going to be made out of ceramic, which would make the 5G Speeds up to twice as fast.
The downside to using these parts is that ceramic antenna boards are extremely expensive compared to the metal counterparts used by most of the industry. In fact, the ceramic antenna boards could cost up to six times as much as the regular meta antenna boards.
DigitTimes said the following regarding the design of the 5G MacBook Pro. This was translated from Google Translate, and I’ve tried to correct any discrepancies that were in the translation.
“The 5G transceiver can achieve higher efficiency, and it is expected that consumers will fully feel the characteristics of 5G high-speed transmission. According to the industry, Apple’s 5G NB superior high-speed transmission, the secret from the antenna board material, will be ceramic, rather than the metal antenna board used by other brands.”
“It is reported that the ceramic antenna board used by Apple has twice the transmission and reception efficiency of the 5G signal to the metal material antenna board, but the cost is six times that of the metal material antenna board. The industry believes that with the brand image of Apple’s fine products and the price of high-priced products, the benefits of using ceramic plate antennas will be far higher than their cost, so that Apple may be on the 5G battlefield, even if it is late.”
It should be noted that DigiTimes don’t have the best track record when it comes to predicting Apple’s products, so I would take this report with a grain of salt.
What do you think of a 5G MacBook that has cellular capabilities? For me, I don’t think I’d really use it to be honest, especially if it’s going to make the MacBook Pro even more expensive. I understand why some people would need cellular on their laptops, but for me, I don’t think it would be a requirement. Would you use it? Let us know in the comments below!