MORRISVILLE – Lenovo will work with chip giant Intel to equip future laptops with modems that will support forthcoming 5G wireless technology.
Microsoft, HP, and Dell also part of the 5G partnership announced on Thursday. HP, Lenovo and Dell rank as the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 global PC sellers respectively.
The news comes as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have committed to 5G deployments beginning next year.
Intel said the new laptops will be available by “holiday 2019.”
Other details are scarce.
“That’s about it as far as details go for now,” noted The Verge.
“Intel says the 5G modems it’s building will also support 2G, 3G, and LTE, which is good since 5G deployment isn’t likely to be all that far along by then. The goal is to provide gigabit speeds.”
“This shows the building blocks being put into place,” Rob Topol, Intel’s general manager for 5G technologies, said in a conference call with reporters, according to VentureBeat.
Qualcomm, Intel’s big rival, also is working on 5G modems and has 18 partners, including Nokia and Sony but not other big names.
Samsung also plans 5G modems.
Lenovo operates one of its two global headquarters in Morrisville. The other is in Beijing.
