By the end of next year, you might be able to purchase a laptop that accompanies a 5G cellular connection. In any event that is the thing that Intel says will happen, on account of a cooperation with Microsoft, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Those four companies are supposed to move in the direction of making PCs with built-in in 5G connections that’ll be available by “holiday 2019,” using Intel’s modems.
That is about it as far as details go for the time being. Intel says the 5G modems it’s building will likewise support 2G, 3G, and LTE, which is great since 5G deployment isn’t probably going to be all that far along by at that point. The objective is to provide gigabit speeds.
Until further notice, take this announcement as more of a goal than as hard evidence that 5G PCs are two years away. While 5G technology is getting closer and closer to reality, there are as yet major unknowns. AT&T and Verizon just plan to have recently begun rolling out their networks before the finish of 2018, and T-Mobile isn’t even looking to begin a rollout until 2019.
Qualcomm is likewise working to put 5G modems inside devices come 2019 and has said it’s working with 18 phone companies to release products. It’s pretty unclear how much you’ll be able to do on a 5G network by at that point. But if you’re in just the right location, it sounds like there ought to be some phones and laptops that can connect.