A Laptop That Acts Like a Smartphone

5G laptops are debuting, and they’re promising something entrepreneurs need: nonstop connectivity.

- By John Brandon

Daniel Sokolovsky doesn’t bother with laptops. He’s the founder of the last-mile delivery company Jitsu and travels around San Francisco constantly. Wi-fi connection can be spotty or slow, so he can’t rely on a device that needs it. Instead, he operates his business using an Apple iPad and an iPhone with LTE. It’s fine, but what he really wants is a laptop that’s just…always connected, like a smartphone. No wi-fi is necessary.

Now, with the rollout of 5G laptops across the industry, he can get his wish.

5G is widely available in many cities, from Spokane to Boston, and companies like Lenovo, Dell, and HP are debuting 5G-enabled laptops. Their promise: No matter where a user is, they can open a laptop and instantly use the internet—thereby reducing fuss and increasing productivity. For example, imagine holding a Skype session with multiple employees while in a field, or at a restaurant with no wi-fi. And what if people on the call speak different languages? Your laptop’s connectivity will be fast enough to translate speakers on the fly. For files, you won’t know or care whether they are stored locally or in the cloud, because they’re always just there.