5G iPhone in 2021? With Apple Qualcomm Settlement It Seem To Be Done THing.

With iPhone sales getting lower than ever before, a 5G would have given Apple a much needed kick but looks like kick will have to wait a bit. Qualcomm needs to get their tools setup for iPhone 5G modems. This usually could take up to 18 months pushing the dates past the traditional iPhone release at the end of the year. So there might be a new iPhone in the beginning of 2021, unless Qualcomm really wants to be nice to Apple. Would they?

This all started two years ago, with the US Federal Trade Commission backing them, Apple and filed an antitrust lawsuit against Qualcomm. It accused the company of operating a monopoly in wireless chips, forcing customers like Apple to work with it exclusively and charging excessive licensing fees for its technology. Both are still awaiting for San Jose courts decision on the case.

Apple and Qualcomm then started battling anew in March for a patent infringement trial. A jury handed Qualcomm a victory and ordered Apple to pay it $31 million for violating three Qualcomm patents.

Then, BOOM, Apple and Qualcomm settled a two-year-old battle over patent licensing on Tuesday, a reconciliation that ended a trial that had started just a day earlier. The companies, which had been fighting in courts in China, Germany and other countries, in addition to the US, will end all worldwide litigation. Good news, for consumers indeed.

Apple will make an unspecified payment to Qualcomm, and the companies have also reached a six-year licensing agreement that includes a two-year option to extend and a multiyear chipset supply agreement. The agreement went into effect on April 1, according to the companies.

So CNet is telling us that we might see a 5G iPhone in 2020