Before the end of the decade, wireless companies are expected to start serving up 5G technology, which promises speeds of up to 40 times faster than 4G.
With that fast speeds, you'll be able to do incredible things on your smartphone. For example, Nokia says 5G will let people stream "8K" video in 3-D. That's an incredibly detailed picture, which is twice as clear as 4K video and 16 times clearer than full HD video.
A person with a 5G smartphone could download a 3-D movie in about 6 seconds. On 4G, it would take 6 minutes.
A typical standard-definition streaming video that you watch on your phone uses up to 0.7 GB of data per hour, according to Netflix. An hour of 1080p HD video uses up 3 GB. 3-D video uses up 4.7 GB and 4K video uses 7 GB of data. That's more than three times the average monthly data plan, gone in a single hour.
So if you've got big dreams of having 3-D FaceTime conversations on your 5G iPhone, you'd better be prepared for a truly shocking wireless bill.
As wireless speeds have increased over the past decade, consumers' data usage has soared. Today, 4G smartphones generate nearly 10 times more traffic than non-4G devices, according to Cisco.
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