5G iPhone Is the “Number One Priority,” Qualcomm Says

Apple is projected to launch its very first iPhone with 5G capabilities next year, and Qualcomm president Cristiano Amon has recently revealed that bringing this device to the market has become “priority number one” for the company.

“Priority number one of this relationship with Apple is how to launch their phone as fast as we can. That’s the priority,” Amon was quoted as saying by PCMag.

Apple and Qualcomm settled their long-time patent dispute earlier this year, and the two signed a multi-year licensing deal that would have the Cupertino-based tech giant use Qualcomm chips on the 5G iPhone.

Just one iPhone with 5G support?

People familiar with the matter suggested that the first iPhone with 5G capabilities would land in 2020, and now Amon confirms that several iPhone generations will ship with Qualcomm modems for 5G support.

“We have a multi-year agreement with Apple. It’s not one, it’s not two, it’s multi-year for our Snapdragon modem. We’re setting no expectations on front end, especially because we engaged it very late,” Amon said. “We re-engaged probably later than both of us would like, and I think we’ve been working together to try to get as much as possible done, and take as much possible advantage of what they’ve done before so that we can actually launch a phone on schedule with 5G.”

So when is the 5G iPhone going to launch? As it happens every year, Apple will introduce the next-generation iPhone in September, and this will be the moment when the first-ever model with 5G capabilities will see daylight.

One source claims that only one iPhone would boast 5G support, but on the other hand, there are reports in this regard indicating that Apple wants to offer 5G on all iPhones.

The work on the 5G iPhone is already under way, and Amon himself admitted that he wishes Apple and Qualcomm settled their legal dispute earlier to have more time to work on this project. However, he says “we’re happy with the progress we’re making,” so right now, it all seems to be just a matter of time until the first 5G iPhone gets the go-ahead.