【Ashley Lopez Archives】

So much for one of the biggest tech courtroom battles in history.

As the smoke settles over Apple and Ashley Lopez ArchivesQualcomm's sudden agreement to end all litigation between the two companies worldwide, the attention has now turned to the 5G iPhone.

With the tech giants no longer feuding, what does this mean for the 5G iPhone? Is it back on track for a 2020 release? Maybe, but it'll be tight.

SEE ALSO: Apple and Qualcomm just settled their massive legal battle

Prior to Tuesday's unexpected settlement, many analysts were losing faith in Apple being able to deliver a 5G iPhone by 2020.

Earlier this month, UBS analyst Timothi Arcuri told investors there was "increasing potential that Apple may not be able to ship a 5G iPhone for 2020." He cited Apple's failure to secure necessary 5G modems as the main reason why a 5G iPhone might not ship until 2021 at the earliest.

Apple's problem with sourcing 5G modems has been two-fold: It couldn't get 5G modems from Qualcomm because the two were locked in litigations, and Intel, the sole supplier of 4G LTE modems in the iPhone XS and XR, appears to be behind schedule with its own 5G modems.

Without any supplier, a 5G iPhone in 2020 would have been impossible. However, the settlement could change things.

Mashable Light Speed Want more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories? Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

"I think it should mean Apple is back on track for a 2020 launch as long as Qualcomm has supply," says Carolina Milanesi, a consumer tech analysts at Creative Strategies.

Even if Qualcomm can't provide enough 5G modems to Apple in time for 2020, Milanesi thinks they could "prioritize some markets such as the U.S. and China for instance."

Other analysts aren't quite as optimistic. Though he still believes a 5G iPhone won't launch until 2021, Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, says squeezing a 5G iPhone into 2020 would be "tight."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Though Apple and Qualcomm didn't disclose specific chip details to their agreement — only that the two companies "have reached a six-year license agreement, effective as of April 1, 2019, including a two-year option to extend, and a multiyear chipset supply agreement" -- it's very likely Apple will now have access to Qualcomm's 5G modems, such as the Snapdragon X55 5G modem announced in February.

With Qualcomm back in the supplier mix, the heat will be on for Intel to accelerate development of its "XMM 8160 5G multimode modem" if it wants to continue being a modem supplier for future iPhones.

More importantly, Qualcomm's return means Intel will need to step it up in terms of modem performance. While Intel's 5G modem is capable of "up to 6Gbps" download speeds, Qualcomm's X55 is already faster with advertised speeds of "up to 7Gbps".

Apple and Qualcomm's settlement couldn't have come at a better time. As phone makers release 5G phones and carriers begin to light up their 5G networks this year, it was becoming worrisome that Apple might be left behind the next mobile revolution. Now, it would appear Apple might have made it just in the nick of time.

The big question is whether Apple rushes out an iPhone to meet the 5G blitz that's planned for 2020 or it waits (like it's previously done with 3G and 4G) until the networks are more mature and deployment is widespread — what's the point of a 5G phone if you don't have a 5G network to use it on?

---

Featured Video For You

---

What is 5G? — Clarification Please

---

Topics 5G Apple iPhone

• Life
• Tech
• Games
• Science
• Shopping
• Digital Culture
• Entertainment
• Social Good

• The Amazon Book Sale is coming April 23 through 28
• Source of All Joy: On Alina Szapocznikow by Yevgeniya Traps
• The Eye of the Storm by Rex Weiner
• “A Reverse Fahrenheit 451,” and Other News by Sadie Stein
• Hurricane Laura's impact lingered with nightmarish mosquito swarms
• What We’re Loving: Carson, Hatterr, Fidel by The Paris Review
• Reader, I married him. by Sadie Stein
• What We’re Loving: Carson, Hatterr, Fidel by The Paris Review
• NYT Connections hints and answers for May 18: Tips to solve 'Connections' #707.
• What We’re Loving: Carson, Hatterr, Fidel by The Paris Review

• 22 places we wrote down our tweets while Twitter was down
• Revisiting superhero films of the '90s in honor of 'Captain Marvel'
• Hillary Clinton delivered these 18 zingers to Donald Trump's face
• Nintendo announces a Labo VR Kit for Switch
• Stop what you're doing and update Google Chrome
• Hamsters make the wizardry of 'Harry Potter' even more magical
• Report: Apple AR glasses might launch in 2020 as an iPhone accessory
• Trump called his friend and Apple CEO Tim Cook 'Tim Apple'
• HQ Trivia for meditation? Why this app could be the daily habit your brain needs
• Clinton drops another Trump burn after night of jokes

• NYT Strands hints, answers for April 26
• Love in Amish Country by Rachel Yoder
• Chatterley Sex Advice, and Other News by Sadie Stein
• What We’re Loving: Fictional Memoirs, Unreliable Narrators by The Paris Review
• DDR4 Memory at 4000 MT/s, Does It Make a Difference?
• The Maurice Sendak School, and Other News by Sadie Stein
• Source of All Joy: On Alina Szapocznikow by Yevgeniya Traps
• Cake and Pie, and Other News by Sadie Stein
• NYT Connections hints and answers for April 14: Tips to solve 'Connections' #673.
• Edith Wharton by Design by Jason Diamond

• Amazon Prime Grubhub deal: Save $10 off orders of $20 or more
• Source of All Joy: On Alina Szapocznikow by Yevgeniya Traps
• A Week in Culture: Carlene Bauer, Writer by Carlene Baeur
• For Reference by Sadie Stein
• Is it 'Thunderbolts*' or *The New Avengers'?
• Didactic Seuss, and Other News by Sadie Stein
• Virginia Woolf, on Pancakes and Porridge by Sadie Stein
• Hear That Lonesome Gasket Blow, Part 4: Tonight the Sea Is Douce by Evan James
• The strangeness of Japan's decision to start openly hunting whales
• Is Scotch Tape Scottish? by Sadie Stein