Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek partnered with Intel earlier this year to provide 5G powered chips for laptops running Intel chips. The partnership is finally starting to bear fruit as the two companies have unveiled MediaTek’s T700 5G modem which aims to bring 5G to Intel-powered laptops.
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Intel, on the other hand, has been working on “system integration, validation and developing platform optimizations” for the new 5G chips, as well as providing assistance to OEMs.
MediaTek president Joe Chen said in a press statement:
Our partnership with Intel is a natural extension of our growing 5G mobile business, and is an incredible market opportunity for MediaTek to move into the PC market.
MediaTek’s new T700 modem works on Sub-6 5G tech and the company says that it has tested standalone 5G calls that work without 4G. Additionally, this modem also has support for non-standalone Sub-6 5G networks that are backed by 4G networks. The company promises that these chips are power efficient when using 5G.
This development is going to be essential for those working on the go, given the speed improvements 5G brings over 4G. As of now, most of Intel’s 5G laptops such as Dell’s Latitude 9510 2-in1, HP’s Elite Dragonfly G2, and the Lenovo Flex 5G are powered by Qualcomm modems. Future announcements for Intel laptops will soon feature MediaTek 5G chips instead.
The two companies believe that MediaTek 5G powered Intel laptops should appear on the market by early 2021
