New report casts further doubt on prospect of 5G iPhones in 2019

Apple fans eagerly awaiting the 2019 series of iPhones may need to withstand a certain level of disappointment. A new report by Bloomberg may further reinforce the theory that these devices will not see 5G in 2019. Even though it is not unusual for the Cupertino giant to lag behind in terms of radio band adoption, such a decision may have more components than internal business plans this time around.

Bloomberg claims to have sources "familiar with [Apple's] plans" prepared to reiterate the claims that the company may wait until 2020 - or maybe even later - to introduce iPhones that support 5G. The outlet also cites a tech analyst at the firm Gartner Inc. who points out that Apple have often been slow to pick up features such as 3G. This may be due to an unwillingness to risk zero-day connectivity technology and the reception issues they may bring. However, in this instance, 5G support may be too good of an unique selling point to risk dropping.

On the other hand, Apple's hand may have been forced in this instance by its current conflict with Qualcomm. It may lead to the inability to secure the supply of 5G modems for the foreseeable future. Therefore, Apple may have to fall back on the old 'we don't want our customers to face lost service' argument for at least another year.

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