The point is that Apple missed absolutely nothing. Technology plods ever forward, lumbering toward the future like a rough-hewn golem fashioned of so many half-baked dreams. None of this is to say that 5G isn't a vague improvement. The horny one doesn't keep up on the Forbes contributor network and gag reflex testing machine much anymore. The Macalope doesn't know what that means, but it's probably a thing. We've been through wrap-around screens, foldable phones, 3D screens, even projector phones. Three and a half years later we've forgotten all about those predictions and now it's assuredly something else Apple's behind on. It was a very dire situation for Apple, let the Macalope assure you. Yes, Apple was behind its rivals who would now have the chance to define what the future of phones will look like. Let's go back to 2018 when we were told that 5G was a game-changer, the real deal, and that Apple had fallen substantially behind.
Right?Īnyway, 5G does seem to offer advantages for a limited number of customers and you can really get great speeds if you're able to connect to mmWave, which is rare, but this is not what we were promised when pundits were howling that Apple was doomed because it wasn't the first to ship a 5G phone. The modest and spotty improvements brought by 5G might be fine, but as The Wall Street Journal reported, 5G also drains your battery like it's mining bitcoin on your phone in the background. It's perfectly possible that, ten years from now, we'll look in the rear-view and say was a good investment. Tim Bray recently collected some anecdotal evidence (tip o' the antlers to John Gruber) about peoples' reaction to 5G and it's a symphony in the key of middling. €¦what we have now is widespread 5G that's more or less the same speed as (or even slower than) 4G and super-fast mmWave 5G in some parts of some major cities with highly limited range. You remember 5G, right? It's the thing on your phone you hardly notice, except when it's draining your battery for no good reason.Ī little over a year ago The Verge reported the 5G situation (and before you say it, The 5G Situation is a terrible band name) thusly: