PC Magazine - USA (2020-02)

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B

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B

y July 2021, people looking for a PC with

built-in 5G connectivity will be deciding

among at least three broad categories of

laptops. One will be inexpensive all-Qualcomm-

powered laptops and tablets that use the

company’s just-announced Snapdragon 8c and 7c

computing platforms. There will also be higher-

end devices that employ the more powerful

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go on sale in early 2020 in the form of a Lenovo

2-in-1 convertible design.

Most mainstream users should consider waiting

for a third option, though: laptops with a

combination of Intel CPUs and MediaTek

modems. They’ll arrive late, probably by more

than a year, but they’ll likely be free of software

problems that will almost certainly plague the

Snapdragon-powered 5G pioneers.

INTEL’S 5G DELAYS

Intel is behind Qualcomm on 5G technology after

abandoning its own 5G modem project earlier

this year. That means it still has to create

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MediaTek to develop and start production of a

custom 5G modem, and then work with yet

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Why You Should Wait

Until 2021 to Buy a 5G PC

As a hardware

analyst, Tom Brant

tests and reviews

laptops, peripherals,

and much more at PC

Labs in New York

City. He previously

covered the

consumer-tech beat

for PCMag in San

Francisco and Silicon

Valley.

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