Last month, Microsoft launched the Surface Laptop 5G version for business customers. It supports Nano SIM card and eSIM, and can also be used as a hotspot to provide network for other devices. As Surface Laptop launches 5G, Apple is also preparing 5G versions of Mac devices.
Apple reporter Mark Gurman broke the news,Apple will equip Mac computers with self-developed 5G baseband chips as soon as 2026.This will be Apple’s first Mac device in history to support 5G networks.
It is reported that the 2026 Mac computers will be equipped with Apple’s new generation baseband chip C2.This baseband was first installed on iPhone 18 Pro, this is the first time that Apple has applied a self-developed baseband on its own Pro model. It supports 5G millimeter wave and the downlink speed can be up to 6Gbps.
This also means that the iPhone 17 Pro will be the last Apple mobile phone equipped with a Qualcomm baseband chip. Among the iPhone 17 series that debuted in September this year, only the Air uses the self-developed baseband chip C1, and the other three models are still equipped with Qualcomm baseband.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo once said that Apple's self-developed 5G baseband will begin large-scale shipments in 2026, and is expected to reach 90-110 million units in 2026 and 160-180 million units in 2027. This will have an impact on Qualcomm's 5G chip shipments and patent license sales.
