*By Conor White*
Reports indicate that widespread 5G may arrive in 2019, and providers are scurrying to meet that unofficial deadline in the wake of Verizon's recent announcement that it will partner with Samsung to release a 5G phone by June.
But until then, 5G is a nebulous goal. "In a sense, 5G in a very real sense doesn't exist right now,"Pete Pachal, Mashable's tech editor told Cheddar Tuesday.
"Right now, there are lot of people, a lot of companies, tripping over themselves to be first at 5G and have those bragging rights," Pachal said.
One company that may sit this round out, at least initially, is Apple ($APPL). The company is executing a time-consuming switch from Qualcomm to Intel processors.
"It's going to take a little while to get that integrated with Apple's chips and its technology," Pachal said. "So 2020 looks like the 5G iPhone."
Even if consumers have to wait for Apple and the iPhone to get on board, 5G should usher in a new age of connectivity.
"If it's even half the promises they're making, it's going to be a tremendous shift in wireless," Pachal said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-future-of-5g-technology).
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