2 nice news bits today. Some groups have already started to deploy new wifi networks to previously unserved neighborhoods using the new 5G band plan type equipment; and second, Some data about the new Apple M-1 CPU+GPU chip is coming out so we can have some idea of what to expect.
The Wall Street Journal posted a story today about a non-phone group who is putting up 5G based networks in previously underserved or unserved areas of the Dakotas. The cost to provide high-speed network access using the new equipment is greatly reduced (compared to 802.11 equipment) and makes it possible to provide high data rates with inexpensive equipment. I suspect there are several other groups looking to do the same kind of deployments as 5G equipment becomes more available.
Apple did a really nice dog and pony show a while back making some interesting claims about their new M-1 chip that they plan to build laptops and maybe some tablets around. First, there is nothing new about this chip; you can find it in some of Microsoft’s tablet/tablet PC’s and a really well-established version can be found in Raspberry Pi products like the Pi 400. Looking at a few early benchmarks of the M-1, it is likely to offer middle-of-the-road performance initially with many restrictions on what software (apps) and peripherals will work with it.
While I am excited about the efforts of some to get 5G based equipment up to provide better WIFI for many, time will tell if the production of these products can fulfill the promise of early successes (yes, I am really excited about this, and have been watching for it to begin). The new Apple product announcements really do not excite me. Apple has made outlandish claims before with reality sinking in after product rollout (the original iMac could be sighted as an exception but it was years late in actual delivery) and this suggested rollout looks so much like those. Please understand, the new ARM chips are fantastic and do make design and production of specialty or general purpose devices very simple (by comparison to Intel chips). Ramping up performance from being competitive with other low-power products to be competitive in the laptop or Desktop market is a huge challenge.
Finally, this move by Apple may allow them to further isolate themselves from the huge R & D effort that competition between AMD and Intel has created (graphics chip makers have also enjoyed a lot of push as they try to keep their offerings competitive with the embedded graphics). For me, the one real positive is that this will provide a lot of stimulus for the ARM chip industry which has done very well on its own but has not been able to jump up to the level of Intel or AMD in chip development.