Apple Travel Ban Allegedly Delays Engineering Tests for 5G iPhone

Apple's ban on engineers travelling to Asia has allegedly delayed engineering verification tests for the 5G iPhone, reports DigiTimes.

Travel restrictions reportedly delaying tests for next-generation iPhone: Apple reportedly has extended the deadline by one month to the end of April for the removal of a set of travel restrictions preventing its engineers from making business trips to Asia, a decision that could have a direct impact on the planned launch of 5G iPhone devices in the second half of 2020, according to industry sources.

The site believes efforts to contain coronavirus will result in much lower 5G phone shipments in the first half of 2020 than previously expected.


Shipments from the 5G handset supply chain for the first half of 2020 are expected to be one third of those for the second half, instead of 50% as estimated earlier, as first-quarter sales of 5G smartphones have been hard hit by the coronavirus outbreak and second-quarter shipment prospects remain unclear amid the worsening epidemic, according to industry sources.

Apple is expected to launch new sub-6GHz and sub-6GHz-plus-mmWave iPhone models this year with shipments beginning in the late third quarter or early fourth quarter of this year. It's purportedly working on a custom antenna design for these devices instead of using the one offered by Qualcomm.

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