MediaTek Unveils T700 5G Modem for Laptops

AfterApple acquired Intel’s modem business, Intel announced its plans toteam up with MediaTek for developing 5G modemsfor laptops back in November of 2019. Thanks to the joint efforts, the companies have now revealedMediaTek’s T700 5G modem, which will power 5G capabilities in Intel’s laptops.

MediaTek’s T700 5G modem hascompleted 5G standalone (SA) calls in real-world test scenarios. Meanwhile, Intel says it has progressed with its efforts on “system integration, validation and developing platform optimizations”, and has been readying co-engineering support for OEM partners.

MediaTek claims that its modem is ‘highly power-efficient’. Furthermore, the modemsupports NSA and SA sub-6GHz 5G network architectures. According toDigiTimes, the company’s mmWave offering will come in the second half of 2021.

While we have already seen laptops with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X55 5G modem like theDell Latitude 9510andHP Elite Dragonfly G2, it will be interesting to see how the combination of Intel CPU and MediaTek’s modems would impact the 5G performance and battery life.

“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,”said MediaTek President Joe Chen.“With Intel’s deep expertise in the PC space and our groundbreaking 5G modem technology, we will redefine the laptop experience and bring consumers the best 5G experiences.”

Intel’s Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Client Platforms Chris Walker says that the company will start customer sampling later this quarter. We could expect OEMs to launch thefirst laptops to offer MediaTek’s T700 5G modem in early 2021.

Subin B

Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.

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