The Mediatek M80 5G modem marks an important development for the Taiwanese chipmaker. Aside from its value-for-money Dimensity 5G processors, the M80 marks the first time MediaTek is offering a 5G modem that supports both mmWave and sub-6Ghz frequencies.
Supporting both 5G frequencies is important especially in the US, where mmWave is the preferred 5G frequency. By having a 5G modem that offers mmWave, MediaTek now has a shot of disrupting Qualcomm’s monopoly with the 5G market in the US. In addition, this development will help MediaTek improve its market share on higher-end devices–despite being the largest chipset vendor globally, MediaTek’s market is mostly on low-end devices.
Key specs of the new modem include support for both NSA and SA architectures, peak uplink and downlink rates of 7.67Gbps and 3.76Gbps respectively, dual 5G SIM, dual NSA and SA networks, and dual Voice over New Radio.
The M80 5G modem is expected to debut on devices like phones later in 2021, and MediaTek has bigger plans for its 5G portfolio: aside from securing a partnership with Intel, MediaTek is expected to offer its 5G chips to other brands, including Apple in the near future.
Prior to the this, MediaTek also announced its first 6nm, 5G processors, with the Dimensity 1100 and Dimensity 1200.
