Intel has announced they are speeding up the launch of the new 5G modem, the XMM 8160, by half a year. Ensuring Qualcomm don’t retain their lead on 5G mobile chipsets. Stating that the modem will be ready in 2019 and the first devices will come in early 2020.
The Intel XMM 8160 5G modem is expected to ship in the second half of 2019 and promises up to 6 Gbps speed for PCs, home broadband, and phones.
It will also support earlier technologies, so manufacturers will not have to include two separate chips which would consume both space and battery life.
While the modem is a year away, the first products are not projected until the first half of 2020.
Intel may have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to selling its chips to device makers as at least 18 major companies — including Samsung, Nokia / HMD, Sony, Oppo, and LG — are working with Qualcomm and its Snapdragon X50 5G NR modems.
In addition, Huawei and Samsung are both developing their own in-house 5G modems.
Apple is reportedly staying with Intel’s chips for their 5G models, they switched to using Intel modems exclusively for the 2018 iPhone XS and XR phones (specifically, Intel’s XMM 7560 modem).
Those rumours of having to wait until 2020 for Apple 5G phones with Intel chips still appear to have been accurate, however, we may see the first wave of 5G devices sooner than expected.
