With 5G slowly getting worldwide coverage, Apple is already working on its successor. According to new job listings on their website, the company plans to develop its own 6G technology, making it increasingly more independent from other partners.
The company has posted new job positions (via Bloomberg) to hire 5G/6G wireless system research engineers for their offices in Silicon Valley and San Diego. The job description mentions that future employees will have the “unique and rewarding opportunity to craft next generation wireless technology that will have deep impact on future Apple products”, placing them into a group that will be held responsible for developing the “next generation disruptive radio access technologies over the next decade”. Furthermore, the job description clearly states that the people selected for this opportunity will “research and design next generation (6G) wireless communication systems for radio access networks”.
Although 6G wireless technology should only hit the market by 2030, it looks like Apple plans to start working on it as soon as it can. Apple has already joined a group of companies responsible for creating the 6G standards and future cellular network technologies. The standards have not been set in stone yet, but specialists expect speeds up to 100x times higher than what 5G offers.
The job listing also suggests Apple plans to start developing its own wireless technologies, similar to what it did with its own CPUs powering the latest generations of iPhones, iPads, and MacBook Air. Besides CPUs, the company is now also developing custom screens, camera technologies, modems, and wireless chips.
KitGuru says: Do you think 6G will bring noticeable performance improvements over 5G? When do you expect to see this technology available on the market?