> I’m pretty sure the next generation of Apple phones (iPhone 12?) will be 5G compatible... that’s more a matter of timing
...
agree with your reasoning, not your conclusion.
I don't think there will be material 5G buildout by the end of 2020 (even before the Covid-19 crisis I didn't believe that). So unless there's an important market with significant 5G buildout (not sure anybody really has "significant" and certainly none of the important markets do) they'll continue to wait.
This is especially true as current 5G devices have larger physical size and abysmal battery life. Apple can't fix that problem on their own; part of the problem is build out and part of it will need to be solved through the experiences of the radio chip vendors and their current customers.
Compare this, say, to WiFi 6 which Apple already deploys in their 2019 iphone 11 and 2020 ipads. hat is a little ahead of the curve (chip sets are OK but there's little deployment yet). Wifi base station deployment will trickle out and until then there's no negative cost for Apple's users (i.e. no effect on battery nor size).
Apple's waiting to see if 5G implodes and is replaced by something else better or equivalent that doesn't cost the carriers nearly as much to deploy and maintain. It seems crazy to have to deploy 1-2 orders-of-magnitude more equipment just to provide coverage equivalent to gigabit 4G LTE, and having to deploy inside of buildings as well; it fails the common-sense "smell" test and I think it will be dead by 2024.
agree with your reasoning, not your conclusion.
I don't think there will be material 5G buildout by the end of 2020 (even before the Covid-19 crisis I didn't believe that). So unless there's an important market with significant 5G buildout (not sure anybody really has "significant" and certainly none of the important markets do) they'll continue to wait.
This is especially true as current 5G devices have larger physical size and abysmal battery life. Apple can't fix that problem on their own; part of the problem is build out and part of it will need to be solved through the experiences of the radio chip vendors and their current customers.
Compare this, say, to WiFi 6 which Apple already deploys in their 2019 iphone 11 and 2020 ipads. hat is a little ahead of the curve (chip sets are OK but there's little deployment yet). Wifi base station deployment will trickle out and until then there's no negative cost for Apple's users (i.e. no effect on battery nor size).