Summary
- It seems like everyone but Apple sells a Windows laptop that includes cellular connectivity.
- Apple will happily sell you an iPad with 5G, but no MacBook. Alternatively, you can use an iPhone to share a hotspot but this is inconvenient and a real drain on the battery.
- Apple has a golden opportunity to produce eSIM-only MacBooks that include it’s own brand new in-house modem technology debuted in the iPhone 16e.
Microsoft, Lenovo, HP, and Dell all offer Windows laptops with cellular support, but Apple does not. If you want a MacBook with 5G support, you’ll need to rely on your iPhone or a dedicated portable hotspot.
Though the iPhone can easily share a cellular connection, it’s not always the most practical solution. Apple, if you’re listening, it’s time to add cellular connectivity to the Mac.
We’ve Had Cellular iPads Since 2010
Did you know the very first iPad had a cellular variant? When Apple first released what then amounted to a larger iPhone on April 3, 2010, the tablet shipped with basic Wi-Fi functionality. A month later, the company released the Wi-Fi + 3G version on April 30.
Fast forward 15 years and all current iPad models have some form of cellular option. Even the cheapest base model iPad, which comes with a paltry 128GB of storage and starts at $349, has a $499 Wi-Fi + Cellular version. Cellular versions of the iPad mini (starting at $499) and the iPad Air (from $599) also cost an extra $150.
But alas, the MacBook misses out. There was a time when this was explained by Apple’s use of Intel chips in its Mac range. But in 2020, Apple launched its own M-series desktop processors which are far more power efficient. Remember that the iPad has historically used Apple’s A-series chips, the same hardware that powers the iPhone.
As if to add insult to injury, the iPad Air and Pro range already use M-series processors. These are the same chips that power modern Macs, bringing desktop-class performance to the small and touch-friendly tablet format. So you can have a 5G-ready portable Apple computer… as long as it’s an iPad.
Though iPadOS has matured into a useful tablet operating system that is more than just a roomier version of iOS, it’s still a far cry from macOS. If you want the freedom of a desktop, you’ll want to use macOS. The iPad can make for an effective portable accompaniment to something like the Mac mini, but it’s not a full laptop replacement for most prospective Mac buyers.
I Don’t Want to Rely on an iPhone
At the moment, using a MacBook while out and about relies either on a solid Wi-Fi connection or the presence of a mobile hotspot. For many, this takes the form of an iPhone, and more often than not it’s what I’ll default to whenever I’m using my MacBook in a public place.
Public Wi-Fi, though much improved compared to what it used to be, is still unreliable. Sometimes it requires authenticating via some sort of gateway that never appears, other times it’s slow, and sometimes it’s absent altogether. Though many urban environments include citywide Wi-Fi coverage, you can’t rely on it.
If you need connectivity, you’re going to want some form of cellular connection. For me this is an iPhone, but it’s not without its drawbacks. My iPhone 13 Pro is showing its age in the form of dwindling battery life. Cellular connectivity is considerably more power-intensive than Wi-Fi (this is one of the reasons why using your iPhone away from a Wi-Fi connection drains the battery so quickly).
Connecting wirelessly can really strain the battery. While the iPhone supports wired hotspot connectivity, I don’t always have a charging cable with me. On top of this, there’s no way to tell my MacBook not to charge the iPhone while it’s connected.
Having connectivity built into my MacBook would mean not having to worry about the added battery drain on my iPhone. The battery in my MacBook Pro is a lot larger than the battery in my iPhone, and I very rarely run out (even on a laptop that’s four years old at this point). Newer M-series chips are even more power efficient than the M1 Max in my MacBook Pro.
And then there’s the fiddly nature of connecting to an iPhone hotspot. Things don’t “just work” as I wish they would. Attempting to connect via Personal Hotspot can fail for no reason. My use of a VPN sometimes gets in the way and results in the connection dropping, and I spend five minutes working out whether I need to disable the VPN on my iPhone, on my Mac, or both.
Cellular backup, which I could enable manually or that would kick in whenever Wi-Fi fails me, would make life a lot easier for any roaming MacBook user.
The Future Is eSIM
Once upon a time, every cellular device needed a dedicated SIM card. Over the years these SIM cards got smaller and smaller, with the end point being the nano-SIM that’s still found in many iPhone and iPad models across the world. But there’s a better way.
With eSIM, you don’t need a physical SIM card anymore. As long as your country’s network infrastructure supports the technology, you can sign up for a cellular plan right there on your device without ever ejecting a SIM tray. As luck would have it, Apple’s home market is fully eSIM-ready. You can’t even buy a new iPhone with a SIM card slot in the United States anymore.
The redundancy factor alone makes this a more convenient way of connecting to a cellular provider. Essentially, you can ignore cellular connectivity altogether until you need it. If you bought a 5G-capable MacBook with a built-in eSIM, you could rely purely on Wi-Fi connectivity until you’re in a situation where you suddenly need internet and there’s nothing available.
The technology is great for traveling. With cheap, pre-paid plans you can sign up for a month of data while traveling abroad. Moving to a different country? Dump your plan and sign up for another local service. Current carrier letting you down in terms of coverage? Ditch it for a better one. None of these scenarios require a trip to a physical store to buy a cheap SIM card.
While Apple still sells a few iPad models with a SIM card tray, a cellular MacBook presents an opportunity to go eSIM-only, everywhere. This is the perfect move for a company that loves to ditch “unnecessary” physical connectors (be they headphone jacks, optical drives, or USB-A ports).
Apple Even Makes Modems Now
In March 2025, Apple launched the iPhone 16e—an iPhone SE replacement that seems fairly benign except for one big development: the modem. The iPhone 16e is the proving ground for Apple’s first-ever in-house modem, the C1. The company has previously relied on Qualcomm chips, so the move is considered a big deal (even if the impact on the customer is minimal).
Related
While we could talk about the performance of the C1 (and Ookla has some interesting results), the biggest impact worth noting comes in terms of cost and the control that this gives Apple in terms of production. It’s almost certainly cheaper to throw your own chips into your next device than it is to pay for someone else’s technology (even with significant research and development costs to recover).
The C1 has some limitations, and it’s likely that Apple will improve performance for higher-end products (the iPhone 16e is the “cheap” iPhone, after all). But perhaps what’s most exciting is how the move could make a prospective cellular MacBook a lot more viable. Feel free to join me in keeping the dream of a cellular MacBook alive.
Who knows what form a cellular MacBook would take? Apple could choose to limit this connectivity to the Pro line, but even the cheapest iPad comes with a cellular option. It’s no secret that you see more MacBook Airs in the wild, which suggests there’d be a healthy appetite to justify the move.
The other question is whether the company would add cellular to every model as a base feature, or whether it would be an optional add-on. The latter would undoubtedly complicate the lineup since MacBooks already come in a range of configurations and display sizes.
Either way, I’d love the option to go cellular the next time I’m due for a MacBook upgrade.
