TheVerge says ATT iPhone 5 won't work on T-Mobiles LTE

apollo1444 · Mar 27, 2013

too many people are saying it will but apparently Apple and T-mobile say it won't...

"Though Apple's spec sheet for the current AT&T iPhone 5 says that it has support for T-Mobile compatible LTE (Band 4, AWS), the official stance given to The Verge by both Apple and T-Mobile is that LTE is not supported with the current iPhone 5. While the iPhone 5 sings on AT&T's LTE network, it won't even connect to T-Mobile's. "

link to the article: http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/26/4150856/bringing-your-iphone-to-t-mobile-better-think-twice

Diode · Mar 27, 2013

For LTE to work, Apple requires official, signed carrier bundles and disables LTE for any "non approved" carrier. These are files that tell the phone what settings (IE mms settings etc) and what switches to turn on (IE enable the LTE radio etc) for each SIM that is inserted. As there is no file for the moment for T-Mobile at the moment, LTE is non functioning.

A software update should push a proper carrier bundle to the current phone and enable LTE for t-mobile. If they refuse for some reason, jailbreaking and creating your own carrier bundle is an option and currently works.

This should not be confused with AWS 3G, which at the time will require the new phone.

bozzykid · Mar 27, 2013

Dan Seifert from The Verge has no clue what he is talking about. It is even pointed on so in the comments. Once Apple pushes the updated carrier bundle, the AT&T/unlocked iPhone 5 will work just fine on T-mobile's LTE.

turbineseaplane · Mar 27, 2013

@bozzy:
The phone will work fine on LTE & Edge & refarmed 3G (not much of this yet)...

But the AWS capable iPhone 5 that TMo is getting (and will become the standard GSM model in the wild moving forward) is the key here.

AWS is really needed to get good, fast, coverage on TMo in most all of the country.

The standard Unlocked GSM iPhone 5 that's out right now will not do this and the AWS capability can not be added by software update or carrier update (that's a fact right from Apple)

Prime85 · Mar 27, 2013

Diode said:
If they refuse for some reason, jailbreaking and creating your own carrier bundle is an option and currently works.

I did this yesterday and i now have the LTE switch in settings. Now i just have to wait for SFL to get LTE.

aneftp · Mar 27, 2013

Read this article. Apple is a bunch of crooks. The "new A1428" and "old A1428" iPhone 5 models are the exact same phone hardware wise.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6860/...hone-5-with-aws-wcdma-enabled-for-tmobile-usa
Look at FCC report at end of article.

Apple has just chosen to "enabled the 1700 wcdma band" to support tmobile 1700/2100 AWS 3G/fake 4g.

This chip is not new. It's just Apple choosing to be Apple to not push the firmware to the "old A1428"

Just like the Nexus 4 has a hidden Band 4 LTE chip. Google and LG decided not to pass it through the FCC.

But we all know people who use band 4 of the Nexus 4 in some few AT&T LTE markets.

apollo1444 · Mar 27, 2013

Prime85 said:
I did this yesterday and i now have the LTE switch in settings. Now i just have to wait for SFL to get LTE.

bad choice, I did that with an unsupported carrier it worked fine it picked up LTE but the signal was erratic, sent calls to voicemail, didn't reconnect back to LTE after a call etc etc.. after a few weeks apple released the approved original update for LTE in my country, I unistalled commcenterpatch and the hacked file and installed the original and it behaved the same way, also I recommend switching off the LTE switch because it might cause 3G timeout issues, it happened to me when i did the hack

After a restore the phone picked up original file and never had any issue at all on LTE it connects back and reconnects back instantly switching to 3G for calls/coverage etc.

which sucks because a fresh restore will make you lose your jailbreak,

hello12 · Mar 27, 2013

Prime85 said:
I did this yesterday and i now have the LTE switch in settings. Now i just have to wait for SFL to get LTE.

PLEASE tell me how you did this? I have iphone 5, factory unlocked on T-Mobile and I don't see the LTE switch? - LTE was released where I live....

Prime85 · Mar 27, 2013

hello12 said:
PLEASE tell me how you did this? I have iphone 5, factory unlocked on T-Mobile and I don't see the LTE switch? - LTE was released where I live....

I got the directions from this post.

https://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=17057567

----------

apollo1444 said:
bad choice, I did that with an unsupported carrier it worked fine it picked up LTE but the signal was erratic, sent calls to voicemail, didn't reconnect back to LTE after a call etc etc.. after a few weeks apple released the approved original update for LTE in my country, I unistalled commcenterpatch and the hacked file and installed the original and it behaved the same way, also I recommend switching off the LTE switch because it might cause 3G timeout issues, it happened to me when i did the hack

After a restore the phone picked up original file and never had any issue at all on LTE it connects back and reconnects back instantly switching to 3G for calls/coverage etc.

which sucks because a fresh restore will make you lose your jailbreak,

So far my signal has not given me any issues and seems to be working perfectly. I will keep my eye on it though, thank you.

2298754 · Mar 27, 2013

AT&T runs LTE on two bands, 700 and 1700/2100 (AWS). T-Mobile runs their LTE on AWS also. It should work, but Apple just needs to push out an update. Only thing that won't work would be AWS HSPA+. You will get HSPA+ PCS on TMobile with the AT&T model

E2EK1EL · Mar 27, 2013

AutoUnion39 said:
AT&T runs LTE on two bands, 700 and 1700/2100 (AWS). T-Mobile runs their LTE on AWS also. It should work, but Apple just needs to push out an update. Only thing that won't work would be AWS HSPA+. You will get HSPA+ PCS on TMobile with the AT&T model

AT&T LTE is 700 MHz

Rogers, Fido, Telus, Kodoo, Bell and Virgin Mobile Canada runs on AWS LTE 1700/2100 MHz

apollo1444 · Mar 27, 2013

E2EK1EL said:
AT&T LTE is 700 MHz

Rogers, Fido, Telus, Kodoo, Bell and Virgin Mobile Canada runs on AWS LTE 1700/2100 MHz

AT&T uses AWS 1700/2100 in some markets and in others they use 700 MHz for LTE

E2EK1EL · Mar 27, 2013

apollo1444 said:
AT&T uses AWS 1700/2100 in some markets and in others they use 700 MHz for LTE

Interesting, I assume Puerto Rico is one of AT&T's AWS LTE. In which states does AT&T uses AWS LTE?

Maybe that explains some users speedtest results are like Rogers in Canada, while others can't seem to pass 20 Mbps

2298754 · Mar 28, 2013

E2EK1EL said:
AT&T LTE is 700 MHz

Nope, they have (or will have) AWS LTE to supplement their 700mhz LTE network.

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