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Don't count on a 5G iPhone this year. Intel's 5G modems will come in 2020

Intel is now the sole supplier of modems to iPhones.

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Abrar Al-Heeti Video producer / CNET
Abrar Al-Heeti is a video host and producer for CNET, with an interest in internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. Before joining the video team, she was a writer for CNET's culture team. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.
Expertise Abrar has spent her career at CNET breaking down the latest trends on TikTok, Twitter and Instagram, while also reporting on diversity and inclusion initiatives in Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Credentials
  • Named a Tech Media Trailblazer by the Consumer Technology Association in 2019, a winner of SPJ NorCal's Excellence in Journalism Awards in 2022 and has twice been a finalist in the LA Press Club's National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards.
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Intel  won't have 5G modem chips in phones until 2020, company executives said Friday, according to Reuters. That could mean Apple , which uses Intel modems, might not have a 5G phone until after some of its rivals. 

Sample 5G modem chips will go out to customers this year, but there likely won't be consumer products available until 2020, said Sandra Rivera, who heads up Intel's 5G strategy, according to the report. She added that 5G products that aren't geared toward consumers, such as networking gear, will be available later this year, according to Reuters. Intel confirmed the report. 

It's not clear if this means there won't be an iPhone with 5G this year, though Apple appears to be in no rush to include the technology. 

Several major companies are scrambling to incorporate 5G, from carriers like Verizon and Sprint to phone makers like LG and Samsung. Qualcomm is supplying the modems that'll go in 5G phones slated to arrive this year. Apple stopped using Qualcomm modems after a legal dispute with the chipmaker.

Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.