Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has posted a note in which he predicts that Apple will release four iPhone models with 5G connectivity and sell them in large numbers. Earlier there were suggestions that Cupertino will first launch models with a frequency of less than 6 GHz and delay mmWave phones by the beginning of 2021.
Kuo refutes these assumptions, arguing that the two versions will be launched simultaneously in September this year. Five markets, the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Japan and Korea, will receive phones that support both 5-GHz and MMW waves up to 6 GHz. They are more complex, which was the reason for the alleged delay.
However, some carriers receive phones that only support frequencies below 6 GHz (this standard is slower than mmWave, but has much better coverage). In addition, it seems that younger iPhones will not have the mmWave option.
According to Kuo, countries with almost no 5G coverage will receive phones with 5G disabled. This indicates hardware omissions, so turning on 5G with a simple software switch will not be possible.
He predicts that Apple will sell between 80 and 85 million iPhones, based on 5G connectivity and an updated design. This is on par with early forecasts for the iPhone 11 family, although lower than the forecast of 100 million units that surfaced last November.