5G is a transformation journey, not an overnight upgrade. But every journey has important first steps, and today marks another step forward in our journey to bring the capabilities of 5G technology to more people and places.
Our Latitude 9510 device, launched in May, is now the first 5G-capable business PC with Intel vPro on the market¹. Beginning today with availability in Europe, with plans to expand globally in the coming months, IT administrators can now select an enterprise-grade level, 5G device for their organizations, giving executives and mobile professionals access to ultra-fast 5G speeds and reliable connectivity. The device works on most major European carriers and positions Dell to ramp our 5G innovation work with Orange, while additional mobile carrier partnerships will be announced globally soon.
“It has been our priority to deliver a rich and seamless experience that leverages the power of 5G for our enterprise customers,” said Bart Van Kildonck, Head of Connected Products, Smart Mobility Services, Orange Business Services. “With Dell’s 5G-ready laptop now available, we are primed to further innovate always-connected and secured smart mobility solutions for both global enterprises and the smart knowledge worker of the future.”
While we are still in the early days of 5G, this is an important launch as we look to a future of ultra-fast networks that have the potential to transform industries, organization and people. Why?
Organizations are future proofing now: When the rush to work-from-home kicked off earlier this year, organizations and their IT departments transformed where and how their employees worked almost overnight. As we transition to a work from anywhere world, IT departments don’t want to be caught flat footed. IT admins want to know the devices they are deploying will support their employees 3-5 years from now.
Our internal customer research shows that IT administrators are focused on providing amazing connectivity and collaboration experiences, with 5G being a crucial component in enabling fast, secure and reliable connectivity wherever employees are working. In fact, only four percent of ITDM customers surveyed said they would not need 5G capabilities available on their organization’s premium laptops in 2021². It’s hard to future proof without 5G.
Innovation begets innovation: Trying to imagine the positive impact 5G will have on our society feels endless, but it has spurred much innovation on our device team. Our goal for the Latitude 9510 was to design the ultimate experience for business users, with AI to boost productivity, machined aluminum materials for an ultra-premium look and feel, and 5G to offer the best connectivity options available. Delivering 5G signals through a metallic device was a sizeable challenge. Thin and light systems provide limited options for antenna placement in the system base, especially when a full metallic enclosure is required and antenna isolation from the base’s internal electronics is critical to performance. Many competitors paint magnesium on the device to hide antenna regions or simply increase the borders of the display so antennas can be built around the screen, but we knew there had to be a better way.
Thinking outside the box, our engineers came up with a smart design that cleverly incorporates 5G antennas into the speakers within the system’s base patent. The co-molded plastic trim ring around the speaker looks like an aesthetic design feature, but it provides an advantage by allowing us to pack antennas into the speaker area, so there’s no compromise on being small and having a good connection.
5G is about more than the device in your hand: Our early 5G tests show that Dell Latitude 9510 can provide up to 300% improvement in download speeds over 4G³. But there’s more to 5G than speed. The reliability and security it offers mobile executives and professionals over Wi-Fi hotspots will transform productivity during travel. 5G will boost capacity and performance for mobile broadband, provide real-time edge compute capacity, and provide purpose-built connectivity for end devices.
The improved wireless capability of 5G networking will bring new use cases and applications, expanding the array of devices, IoT use cases, and services beyond what is possible today. Think automated surveillance of industrial sites, remote maintenance in factories, remote telesurgery, autonomous driving and 3D manufacturing with collaborating industrial robots. It’s more than the 5G device – it’s about the possibilities 5G can enable.
So, while we celebrate this step, we continue our march onward. We look forward to sharing more on our carrier partnerships and unique use cases soon. For pricing and availability on the 5G-capable Latitude 9510 in Europe, enterprise customers may call their customer sales representative.