It's not about network speed, it's about the power requirements, range and iSIM.
With LTE-M (not sure if it's considered 5G, but it's a new LTE standard being rolled out at the same time anyway) or NB-IoT you can have devices using way less power to stay connected to the internet, and the range can be very impressive too. Of course, the bandwidth is also very low. But that's OK for things like tracking devices (they're making reindeer trackers in Finland) and basic smart watches.
With eSIM or iSIM you can also make the device smaller
> is using 2G cellular modems
I think carriers really want to discontinue 2G eventually. It's really inefficient. They've already dropped support for 3G around here.
I'm guessing it's also way more power hungry than LTE-M/NB-IoT
I’m a layman on this topic but watching the Apple video it sounded like 5G has higher power requirements than LTE. He even explained how it switches between them to conserve battery. LTE when you don’t need speed and 5G when you do.
Do not be confused. These technologies are very different to the 5G technology (called “New Radio”) the new iPhone and 5G phones in general are using. They are designed around using as little energy as possible and maintaining connectivity in very difficult conditions to the expense of speed and latency.
With LTE-M (not sure if it's considered 5G, but it's a new LTE standard being rolled out at the same time anyway) or NB-IoT you can have devices using way less power to stay connected to the internet, and the range can be very impressive too. Of course, the bandwidth is also very low. But that's OK for things like tracking devices (they're making reindeer trackers in Finland) and basic smart watches.
With eSIM or iSIM you can also make the device smaller
> is using 2G cellular modems
I think carriers really want to discontinue 2G eventually. It's really inefficient. They've already dropped support for 3G around here.
I'm guessing it's also way more power hungry than LTE-M/NB-IoT
Can you make something like this with 2G? https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/airbolt/the-airbolt-gps
I don't think so...