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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,287
30,350



att_iphone_4s_4g.jpg



This is my next... shares an internal talking point from AT&T regarding the iPhone 4S, noting that the carrier is "working with Apple" to change the network indicator shown in the status bar on the iPhone 4S to read "4G" when the device is running on an HSPA+ network.
AT&T is working with Apple to update the network indicator for AT&T's iPhone 4S to read "4G". This will happen with an iOS release from Apple. Since iPhone 4S is an HSPA+ device, our customers will get 4G speeds from day one. Only AT&T has this unique network advantage.
"4G" is a marketing term that is being applied to both LTE and HSPA+ networks, leading to some customer confusion over just what exactly the term means. AT&T markets both its HSPA+ and LTE services as being 4G, and thus it believes that the iPhone 4S, which supports 14.4 Mbps HSDPA, should be marketed as offering 4G speeds.

schiller_iphone_4s_hsdpa_comparison.jpg



Apple has purposely shied away from the debate over what should constitute "4G" speeds, with Phil Schiller steering away from any claims of the iPhone 4S being a "4G" device in its introduction but noting that the iPhone 4S meets or exceeds the data speeds of a number of other handsets that are marketed as 4G devices.
Now, if you follow the phone industry, these numbers might sound familiar - 5.8 up, 14.4 down. Where have I heard that before? Well, this is what the majority of our competitors claim when they talk about 4G performance. The Motorola Atrix 4G, the LG Thrill 4G, the HTC Inspire 4G -*they even put it in their names. We're not going to get into a debate in the industry of what's 4G and what isn't. We leave that to others to talk about. What's most important, when it comes to real-world performance - the iPhone 4S is just as fast as all these phones. In fact, we think with some of our software enhancements, it's even faster in real-world use.
The confusion over HSPA+ and LTE flavors of 4G marketing is focused on GSM carriers like AT&T. Verizon does not have a similar issue with its CDMA network, as its only 4G network utilizes LTE technology, which the iPhone 4S does not support. Sprint currently offers 4G service using WiMAX technology, which the iPhone 4S also does not support, although the carrier is moving quickly to transition to LTE for its 4G connectivity.

Article Link: AT&T Looking to Add '4G' Network Indicator to iPhone 4S Status Bar
 

Xenomorph

macrumors 65816
Aug 6, 2008
1,397
829
St. Louis
Perfect when you just want to "show off" your new purchase.

Personally, I like hiding the "AT&T" logo (using CleanStatus). Hide the carrier, and give me 3.14G.
 

Nicky G

macrumors 65816
Mar 24, 2002
1,146
1,282
Baltimore
Something is off here, as iPhone 4S doesn't seem to BE an HSPA+ device. According to Apple's specs it's 14.4mbps HSDPA, not HSPA+. What gives?
 

TEG

macrumors 604
Jan 21, 2002
6,618
165
Langley, Washington
It makes sense, given that most GSM companies are marketing 14.4+ downloads as 4G, something we can blame squarely on T-Mobile USA. If we were smart, we would except this as 4G, and call LTE (with VoLTE) as 5G.

TEG
 

alent1234

macrumors 603
Jun 19, 2009
5,688
170
Something is off here, as iPhone 4S doesn't seem to BE an HSPA+ device. According to Apple's specs it's 14.4mbps HSDPA, not HSPA+. What gives?

14.4 is HSPA+

my htc inspire has H+ for the signal bar and no way it does 21mbps
 

TheOrioles33

macrumors 6502
Apr 3, 2008
297
0
It would be nice to see some indicator showing I am getting faster than 3G speeds. Call it what you want.
 

bpeeps

Suspended
May 6, 2011
3,678
4,629
Something is off here, as iPhone 4S doesn't seem to BE an HSPA+ device. According to Apple's specs it's 14.4mbps HSDPA, not HSPA+. What gives?

This gets mentioned in every single 4G speed post and someone always points out it is the same.

Still seems like Verizon is getting **** on.

Blame their bad choice in CDMA technology.

It would be nice to see some indicator showing I am getting faster than 3G speeds. Call it what you want.

Download the SpeedTest app.
 

wordoflife

macrumors 604
Jul 6, 2009
7,564
37
No! That's freaking garbage.
All AT&T '4G' Android phones have that crap. It always shows "4G" on those phones, regardless of if you are actually on an enhanced HSPA+ network, or just 3G. I'd rather not have my phone tell me I'm always connected to a "4G" network when I am not.
 

Zepaw

macrumors 65816
Apr 18, 2010
1,294
0
MN
I hate these blatant attempts to mislead. Just slap on what ever you think will make the customer feel good.
 

elhungarian

macrumors 6502
Aug 13, 2009
302
50
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_6 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E200 Safari/6533.18.5)

No worries Verizon iPhone users. Were still stuck on 3.1 mbit theoretical max ! And that translates to .22 mbit at the office whoohoo. Ironically at home where I don't need 3G I get 2.2 mbit down over 3G.

Thankfully I'm eligible for upgrade on one of our lines next October for lte iPhone.
 

crisss1205

macrumors 6502a
Oct 7, 2008
930
267
NYC
Something is off here, as iPhone 4S doesn't seem to BE an HSPA+ device. According to Apple's specs it's 14.4mbps HSDPA, not HSPA+. What gives?

HSDPA + HSUPA = HSPA(+)

HSDPA means downlink, HSUPA mean uplink, both together form HSPA / HSPA+
 

alexbates

macrumors 65816
Nov 24, 2008
1,082
0
Georgia, USA
I can already picture AT&T spending endless millions on a new advertising campaign to explain that only AT&T has "4G" on the iPhone 4S
 

crisss1205

macrumors 6502a
Oct 7, 2008
930
267
NYC
They should just put it as H+ and lte as 4g.

Thats what I was thinking, instead of putting "4G" in the status bar they should put "H+" or something like that. But then again they want to advertise that only AT&T has a "4G" iPhone.
 

Geckotek

macrumors G3
Jul 22, 2008
8,767
308
NYC
Still seems like Verizon is getting **** on.

Why do you say that?

Blame their bad choice in CDMA technology.

No, CDMA was the right choice at the time, as any user who has used both CDMA and TDMA can tell you. CDMA launched both Sprint and Verizon into a great position w/ a better/faster 3G launch before AT&T switched to UMTS on W-CDMA. (Too bad Sprint didn't capitolize on it better)

The GSM of today is NOT what was available when Verizon chose CDMA. So don't compare the 2 and call Verizon's choice bad.

I hope Apple tells them to stick it.
 

Rodimus Prime

macrumors G4
Oct 9, 2006
10,136
4
Who did not see this coming. The most I can see Apple agreeing to is allowing an H+ icon to be there.
 

Bearxor

macrumors 6502a
Jun 7, 2007
771
495
Whosoever allowed marketing of 3G/3.5/3.7G speeds as 4G speeds is an idiot.

HSPA+ can hit current LTE speeds. For all intents and purposes, the 4G marketing is correct because they are comparing speeds.

This will change, however, as LTE starts topping over 50Mb/s in a few years. By then, carriers LTE networks should at least be built out.
 
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