Intel Expects PCs With Fast 5G Wireless To Ship In Late 2019

PC makers including Dell, Lenovo, and Microsoft are already laying plans to offer high-speed wireless late next year.

- Mark Hachman

With the first deployments of 5G high-speed wireless technology within the U.S. scheduled for later this year, Intel and its PC partners are already thinking about the next step: rolling out 5G-equipped PCs late in 2019.

Intel, along with Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft said recently that the companies expect the first 5G Windows PCs to become available during the second half of 2019. That’s about the same time that Intel plans to begin shipping its XMM 8000 commercial modems, marking the company’s entrance into the 5G market.

Intel will show off a prototype of the new 5G-connected PC at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona. In addition the company will demonstrate data streaming over the 5G network. At its stand, Intel said that it will also show off eSIM technology—the replacement for actual, physical SIM cards— and a thin PC running 802.11ax Wi-Fi, the next-gen Wi-Fi standard.