A wave of next-generation 5G smartphones will be unveiled at MWC 2019 in Barcelona next week, but Qualcomm is already preparing for an even faster future. On Tuesday, the silicon giant unveiled a second-generation 5G modem for smartphones to come later in 2019, promising blistering download speeds as high as 7Gbps.
The fifth generation of wireless networks, or 5G, promises dramatically faster speeds, instantaneous communication, and the ability to connect almost anything. While the technology may change the game for everything from self-driving cars to virtual reality to industrial manufacturing, smartphones will be at the heart of the initial rollout. And the phones we see at MWC will use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 modem, which was announced in 2016 and finally released last year. That chip peaked at 5Gbps, which is faster by far than 4G networks — and apparently just the beginning. The new Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G theoretically reaches 7Gbps, meaning you’ll be able to download entire movies to your phone before you can finish putting on your headphones.
The X55 5G will simplify future development for phone makers, Qualcomm said, thanks to support for both sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave bandwidths, two competing slices of network being promoted by different carriers that will both support 5G. And multi-mode support for 5G, 4G, and even networks as old as 2G means Qualcomm is “effectively making 5G available in any region around the world,” explained Qualcomm’s Nitin Dhiman during a product briefing ahead of the news release. The company says this will allow phone makers and other manufacturers to move their products into the market more quickly.
But more than just a faster modem, Qualcomm announced a complete suite of components; there’s the QTM525 5G mmWave antenna, which adds support for the 26GHz band and is more compact than earlier versions, allowing for slicker industrial designs. Those antenna make possible a reference design phone the company showed Digital Trends that looks just as sleek and beautiful as the phone you’re reading this article on. A few years earlier, the technical challenges posed by next-gen networks — millimeter wave in particular — made slick 5G phone designs seemed insurmountable.
“It’s very challenging. There’s no question about that,” Ignacio Contreras, director of Product Marketing with Qualcomm, told Digital Trends. “Up until a couple years ago, people thought it was impossible. But it has been solved.” Qualcomm also announced signal boosting chips, envelope tracking modules, and the filters and amplifiers manufacturers will need for next-gen phones. A slew of them are clearly on the way.
“Virtually all major Android manufacturers will be announcing or launching flagship 5G phones,” Contreras said. “Networks will be deployed across the globe — in the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and China will see networks lighting up and growing.”
Are you tired of paying for streaming services you never watch just to get a phone plan feature you actually want? T-Mobile has good news for you! The carrier is rolling out new plans, called T-Mix, in early November to replace its old Experience lineup with a build-your-own perks system called Picks.
The benefits you choose vary from streaming and gaming to food delivery, AI, satellite service, and phone discounts. But if you are satisfied with your existing plan, you can keep it.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.