by Jason Snell
5G: ‘It’s not good yet.’
Dieter Bohn of The Verge cautions against getting caught up in 5G hype:
If you’re looking to buy a new iPhone this year, even before I see these phones I can provide this simple piece of advice: don’t buy one just because it has 5G.
That’s been my advice for every single 5G-enabled Android phone that’s been released thus far, and unless Apple has some reality-defying modem that enables 5G speeds in more places, it’s my advice for the upcoming iPhone as well.
The problem with 5G is that it’s not good yet. In a comprehensive, US-wide test of 5G speeds, PC Mag found them seriously lacking. In many cases 5G speeds were actually slower than 4G speeds. And the study also found that the other hyped-up reason for 5G, low latency, also isn’t here yet.
The wireless industry has been pushing 5G forever, and as of this fall, Apple is now on the 5G hype train. This is a next-generation wireless standard and it will eventually make a difference for a lot of people. But Dieter is absolutely right—buy a new iPhone because of the cameras or the screen or the A14 processor or the new size options or because your old iPhone’s seen better days… but not because it’s got 5G.