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chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
This should help:

The specs aren't going to advertise it because apple has no intention of running on those frequencies.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1092599/

YxeV8.png


AWS is UMTS 1700

iPhone 4S and Verizon iPhone 4 use the MDM6600 (in other words, support ALL the frequencies!)
 

littyboy

macrumors 6502a
Jun 12, 2009
712
920
iPhone users on T-Mobile USA's networks are only getting 2.5G EDGE cellular data speeds -- regardless of which version of the Apple handset the user has (original iPhone, 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S) -- because the chipset doesn't support the AWS band (1700/2100MHz).

In preparation for launching their next-generation HSPA+ network, T-Mobile USA has been refarming some of their 1900MHz spectrum allocation and putting 3G cellular data there.

This is for an extremely limited portion of T-Mobile USA's coverage area. Some people in these limited areas are now seeing 3G cellular data connectivity with their iPhones (3G, 3GS, 4, and 4S, but not the original iPhone). This is not a nationwide change in the availability of 3G cellular data for iPhone users on T-Mobile USA's network.

You're absolutely right. Why are these idiots saying the 4S supports T-mobile's 3G like its nationwide.... sigh.


Also for those of you wishing this will happen, don't get your hopes up. This isn't "good" news because it has always been Apple's final decision on whether T-mobile USA will get the iPhone. It's basically the same **** we've been hearing.
 
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cvaldes

macrumors 68040
Dec 14, 2006
3,237
0
somewhere else
Now if cellphone hardware was not so insanely expensive.
If you want a cheap cellphone, they are out there, you just need to look. However most of them aren't all that good. A large percentage of inexpensive handsets aren't marketed on a worldwide basis, but are limited to certain markets, particularly southeast Asia.

There are major cellphone handset manufacturers that have almost zero market presence in the USA, yet are selling hundreds of millions of phones: Huawei, Pantech, ZTE, etc.

If the design is over a year old, chances are it'll be cheap no matter what the price was at the original release.

You can get unlimited talk/text/3G data for $45/month (no contract) from Straight Talk (a brand of TracFone Wireless): a refurbed Nokia E71 smartphone is $100, one-year warranty.

Heck, I paid about $30 for my Motorola dumbphone when I signed up for T-Mobile's Pay As You Go service about five years ago. It's no longer my primary phone, but it still works great. I keep a Truphone SIM in it for emergencies (T-Mobile USA unlocked this handset after a few months).

Again, inexpensive handsets can be found.
 

Akack

macrumors 6502a
Mar 5, 2011
685
44
USA
I will believe it when I see it. Rumors were the iPhone 4S was supposedly coming to T mobile but that failed!!
 

pdjudd

macrumors 601
Jun 19, 2007
4,037
65
Plymouth, MN
You're absolutely right. Why are these idiots saying the 4S supports T-mobile's 3G like its nationwide.... sigh.
That's because it technologically can - The chipset has physical support. It's been disabled, there is no phone software support to access it, and the antenna isn't designed to use it, but people are going off what the chipset physically is capable of supporting.

I will believe it when I see it. Rumors were the iPhone 4S was supposedly coming to T mobile but that failed!!
If they did, it would have to be redesigned... The hardware and non chiset hardware aren't built with that frequency in mind.
 

Amazing Iceman

macrumors 603
Nov 8, 2008
5,242
3,987
Florida, U.S.A.
Don't "3G" and "4G" have specific definitions determined by the ITU? (I know many carriers ignore those and just make up their own.)

Maybe I shouldn't have said "marketing names". What I am getting at is "Personal Communications Service" and "Advanced Wireless Services" are generically meaningless phrases that were assigned specific meanings. Using "PCS" to denote cellular telephony and data services in the 1900 MHz band implies that somehow communications services outside that band are not personal or not communications services, or whatever.

I associate PCS to CDMA and its derivates. Maybe I shouldn't have post that comment. The more terms floating around, the easier to confuse the consumer; salesmen do love to use lots of terms.
 

chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
No 4G/LTE; no care.

50Mb/5Mb LTE service since 2009.

It is likely. 3 of the 4 major US carriers have committed with 1 having significant rollout, one having moderate rollout, and one just getting going. It happens that that major rollout covers over 200 million Americans and is conspicuously a feature on most of the phones selling near the iPhone now. I think Apple understands that they are in a more competitive marketplace now and Qualcomm's 28nm LTE all-in-one radio will be available by then. I'll be surprised if it doesn't have it, honestly.
 

JediZenMaster

Suspended
Mar 28, 2010
2,180
654
Seattle
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I think it's great that T-Mobile is talking up the iPhone but why would apple allow a sinking ship to carry it?

Sure in the end it's about profits but look at sprint who practically put themselves with a big debt burden to get it.

Tmobile just doesn't seem like they could afford it and I highly doubt DT is going to pump even more money into the US considering they still haven't been paid back for the debt that's still owed
 

BC2009

macrumors 68020
Jul 1, 2009
2,236
1,371
Look again, that should be $65/line, or $130/2 lines. So the calculations should be:

T-Mobile Value Plan for two lines:
2 4Ss: $1300
$130/month (5GB data cap) for 24 months: $3120
Total: $4420

I am on a T-Mobile family plan but it is an older grandfathered My Faves plan, and I have looked into the Value plan to see if it would save us money but it would actually cost more even on a monthly basis. Plus we would pay full price for the phones (I am the only one out of 5 lines with an iPhone).

On AT&T I've got the following
750 shared minutes + rollover + unlimited M2M + 5000 nt/we minutes (2 lines)
200 SMS messages x 2 lines (grandfathered at $5 per line per month)
Unlimited 3G data x 2 lines (grandfathered at $30 per line per month with 23% FAN discount)

With ALL taxes and surcharges and discounts applied, we pay $118 per month.
This works out to $2,832 for 24 months .

Given that we have over 4000 rollover minutes and iMessage keeps us under the 200 SMS message mark, it will be very very hard to switch off AT&T and get a better plan. Especially with the 23% discount which applies to the voice and data (not the SMS).

I looked at Sprint "unlimited" plans and the problem is that the voice and data are charged per phone whereas we only need about 500 shared minutes per month (or less) after factoring in the unlimited mobile to mobile and 5000 night and weekend minutes.

Upside to AT&T is that they have good coverage is my city. Downside is if I travel anywhere other than major metropolitan areas or stray from major highways, coverage disappears. My Verizon iPad 2 gets better coverage but slower data speeds than my AT&T iPhone 4S -- I've hedged my bets though since I only buy the 3G data on iPad when traveling.
 

SAD*FACED*CLOWN

macrumors 65816
Apr 5, 2010
1,342
1
Houston, TX
GREAT NEWS

NOW THAT ALL Carriers will have an iPhone, the other carriers will have to all compete again. And it will definitely stir up innovation in the phone industry again.

The iPhone has been opened up to two additional carriers since it's debut and prices have not dropped yet...what's more than likely to occur is that Tmobile will RAISE it's prices to get in on the profits that the other carriers recieve
 
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acidfast7

macrumors 65816
Nov 22, 2008
1,437
5
EU
On AT&T I've got the following
750 shared minutes + rollover + unlimited M2M + 5000 nt/we minutes (2 lines)
200 SMS messages x 2 lines (grandfathered at $5 per line per month)
Unlimited 3G data x 2 lines (grandfathered at $30 per line per month with 23% FAN discount)

With ALL taxes and surcharges and discounts applied, we pay $118 per month.
This works out to $2,832 for 24 months .

Given that we have over 4000 rollover minutes and iMessage keeps us under the 200 SMS message mark, it will be very very hard to switch off AT&T and get a better plan. Especially with the 23% discount which applies to the voice and data (not the SMS).

I looked at Sprint "unlimited" plans and the problem is that the voice and data are charged per phone whereas we only need about 500 shared minutes per month (or less) after factoring in the unlimited mobile to mobile and 5000 night and weekend minutes.

Upside to AT&T is that they have good coverage is my city. Downside is if I travel anywhere other than major metropolitan areas or stray from major highways, coverage disappears. My Verizon iPad 2 gets better coverage but slower data speeds than my AT&T iPhone 4S -- I've hedged my bets though since I only buy the 3G data on iPad when traveling.

Wow, that's a load of money.

500mins/110 USD month.

Time for a prepaid uSIM.
 

andiwm2003

macrumors 601
Mar 29, 2004
4,382
454
Boston, MA
if T-Mobile was smart they would expand their refarming to all major cities and by that capture all unlocked android and iPhone users who want to switch to a prepaid plan. They would gain millions of new customers since many are happy to have 3G in the city they live.

Having the phone on T-Mobile specific frequencies doesn't help because you still have to decide for many devices what version you buy. Then you are forced to use ATT or T-Mobile for the lifetime of the phone. Either we have all pentaband phones (that are only the very expensive ones) or T-Mobile starts using the standard frequencies. Only when people can change prepaid plans on a monthly basis prices will drop.
 

jeremyshaw

macrumors 6502
Oct 29, 2011
340
0
This should help:



iPhone 4S and Verizon iPhone 4 use the MDM6600 (in other words, support ALL the frequencies!)

The list is a small protion of the actual info. The actual transmitter IC and traces still need to be implemented on the PCB itself. If Apple doesn't want to contract manuf. another version of the iPhone (they don't even want to have more than two different shells.... black and white. Not even storage info), then T-Mo is out of luck.
 

k1121j

macrumors 68000
Mar 28, 2009
1,717
2,754
New Hampshire
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Does anyone find it strange that apple is allowing this info to be public so soon before they themselves announce it?
 

rumz

macrumors 65816
Feb 11, 2006
1,214
633
Utah
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Does anyone find it strange that apple is allowing this info to be public so soon before they themselves announce it?

Not really-- it's not much of a spoiler. There's still no guarantee that T-Mobile will get the next iPhone, and it might not even be 100% accurate information (on future radio chipsets, etc).
 

chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
The list is a small protion of the actual info. The actual transmitter IC and traces still need to be implemented on the PCB itself. If Apple doesn't want to contract manuf. another version of the iPhone (they don't even want to have more than two different shells.... black and white. Not even storage info), then T-Mo is out of luck.

It wouldn't be another version if it was part of their design process for the iPhone 5/4SSSSSS. In other words, it's not Apple's desire for an all-in-one solution part that's holding them up.
 

jeremyshaw

macrumors 6502
Oct 29, 2011
340
0
It wouldn't be another version if it was part of their design process for the iPhone 5/4SSSSSS. In other words, it's not Apple's desire for an all-in-one solution part that's holding them up.

Might also have to do with power distribution and PCB space. You are looking at another transmitter IC, or at the very least, one that also supports 1700MHz for HSDPA (not LTE, which there is a LTE category that utilizes 1700MHz, too).
 

chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
Might also have to do with power distribution and PCB space. You are looking at another transmitter IC, or at the very least, one that also supports 1700MHz for HSDPA (not LTE, which there is a LTE category that utilizes 1700MHz, too).

Yup. I would imagine there is a transmitter IC that can fit the bill given their need to produce frequency bands an entire octave apart already (for EDGE and 3G support, for instance).

LTE will be a concern going forward given it's kind of all over the place, from 700 MHz to 1700MHz as you mention.
 

cvaldes

macrumors 68040
Dec 14, 2006
3,237
0
somewhere else
Does anyone find it strange that apple is allowing this info to be public so soon before they themselves announce it?
This update to the original post should provide some clarification:

Update: In a clarification to 9to5Mac, T-Mobile reports that Ray said only that Apple could use an AWS-capable chipset in a future iPhone model, not that he had specific knowledge of Apple's roadmap.
T-Mobile USA executives Humm and Ray are basically guessing.

They have no actual knowledge about what chips Apple will use in their next generation handset. If T-Mobile USA ever inks a deal with Apple, Humm and Ray will keep their mouths shut. Apple's partners clam up real tight when there's an unannounced deal in the works.

Apple will tell T-Mobile USA how much they can say and when.
 

chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
5,325
158
MD
This update to the original post should provide some clarification:


T-Mobile USA executives Humm and Ray are basically guessing.

They have no actual knowledge about what chips Apple will use in their next generation handset. If T-Mobile USA ever inks a deal with Apple, Humm and Ray will keep their mouths shut. Apple's partners clam up real tight when there's an unannounced deal in the works.

Apple will tell T-Mobile USA how much they can say and when.

In late 2010, Verizon's CEO had no problem talking about them getting the iPhone (stating they had to "earn it" and their 4G plans seem to be doing that), he just said nothing directly indicative of their plans. Sprint's CEO also talked about it rather cryptically before it happened: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20109571-94/sprint-ceo-dances-around-iphone-rumors/

So, I'd still expect them to talk about it in a very round-about non-confirming fashion if it did happen.
 

bushido

Suspended
Mar 26, 2008
8,070
2,755
Germany
i love how the US has all this different bands yet none seem to work perfectly ^^ why not just stick to one and try to make it better like the rest of the world
 
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