Is it finally time for a 5G MacBook, as Apple patent teases the possibility? [Poll]

A MacBook with built-in cellular data capabilities has been something some have wanted for many years. As Apple again teases the possibility in a new patent, is it finally time for the company to offer a 5G MacBook?

The latest Apple patent to refer to a 5G MacBook is one intended to ensure that mobile data connections remain stable when devices are used on high-speed trains …

Using Apple devices on high-speed trains

The concept of a high-speed train is not exactly a familiar one in the US, where trains are more commonly used for freight than for passengers, and where the passenger services that do exist tend to travel at very modest speeds.

This is in contrast with countries like Japan, China, Korea, Italy, France, Germany, and Spain – where passenger trains can travel at speeds of over 180 mph, and compete with airlines to transport people rapidly between distant cities.

One problem with these types of speeds is that cellular comms are subject to Doppler Shift. That is, the wavelengths of cellular transmissions are lengthened when moving rapidly away from a base station, and shortened when traveling quickly toward one. This can impact the reliability of a mobile data connection.

There are workarounds for this, but Apple proposes a more sophisticated one, where the Doppler effect would be measured by the Apple device, and the result transmitted back to the base station. The base station would then use this measurement to compensate for the effect.

The patent references laptops

As Patently Apple notes, the patent includes laptops in the list of devices that could be equipped with this technology.

To be clear, we shouldn’t get carried away by this: Apple likes to cover all the bases when it patents something, and it even lists PCs in a way that would normally be associated with desktops.

However…

A 5G MacBook has never been easier to make

Apple did get as far as making a prototype of a cellular MacBook, all the way back in 2007.

The problem in those days was that it required a large external antenna, and a slot for what was in those days a very large physical SIM card.

But tech has moved on. Antennas are now easily hidden within the casing of a device, and the use of eSIMs means that very little space would be required to accommodate one, and without any break in the unibody casing.

This means it would be pretty trivial for Apple to either make a 5G capability standard in MacBooks, or offer the capability as an option, exactly as it does for iPads. For iPads, selecting 5G adds as little as $130 to the price.

Steve Jobs was against it, but is it time?

Steve Jobs opposed the idea of offering cellular MacBooks, on the basis that it would add complexity to the lineup. But Apple is now way beyond Steve’s simple “laptop and desktop, consumer and professional” quadrant. Adding it as an option now would be no more complex on a MacBook than on an iPad: Check the box if you want it.

So is it finally time for Apple to offer a 5G MacBook option? Please take our poll, and share your thoughts in the comments.