All you need to know about iPhone 4/4S & 5 + T-Mobile HSPA+/LTE

Satnam1989 · Mar 26, 2013

Since people seem to be a little confused about the iPhone 5 & T-Mobile network, I hope this helps:

T-Mobile Ready Tweaked iPhone 5: A1428 AKA AT&T/GSM Model
- 850/900/1700/1900/2100 UMTA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (Aka 4G/3G)
- LTE T-Mobile USA, AT&T, Rogers (Fido), Telus (Koodo), Bell (Virgin Mobile Canada), Wind Mobile Canada, Mobilicity
- 3G/4G Everywhere on T-Mobile 1700MHz AWS & in 1900MHz Refarmed areas (Not Limited to 1900MHz HSPA+ Reaffirm) & World Wide 3G on all other bands
- Serial # will END WITH FHXX

Current iPhone 5: A1428 (GSM model)
- 850/900/1900/2100 UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (Aka 4G/3G)
- LTE T-Mobile, AT&T, Rogers (Fido), Telus (Koodo), Bell (Virgin Mobile Canada)
- No AWS T-Mobile 3G/4G Support!
- 3G while on T-Mobile (Incl. MVNO's) in 1900MHz Refarmed areas & 2G/EDGE everywhere else & World Wide 3G on all other bands
- Apple Will issue a software update to enable LTE Access....Everyone on T-Mobile (Incl. MVNO's) can already access 1900MHz HSPA 21+ Network.

Current iPhone 5 A1429 (Verizon/Sprint Model)
- 850/900/1900/2100 UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA & CDMA
- LTE: Verizon, Sprint and Carriers World Wide
- No AWS T-Mobile 3G/4G Support & No T-Mobile LTE [Sprint iPhone 5 Cannot be used within USA on any Network]
- 3G ONLY while on T-Mobile (Incl. MVNO's) 1900MHz HSPA+21 Refarmed areas & 2G/EDGE everywhere else & World Wide 3G on all other bands

iPhone 4 & 4S GSM Models
- 3G ONLY while on T-Mobile (Incl. MVNO's) 1900MHz Refarmed areas & 2G/EDGE everywhere else & World Wide 3G on all other bands
- No LTE Support
- No 1700 AWS Support
- Only sold in limited markets where 1900MHz HSPA+21 refarm available/planned
- Verizon/Sprint models will be "Unofficially supported" much like now whenever Gevey/R-SIM is available...since when officially unlocked from carriers they only work overseas/internationally

Dont know if 1900MHz 3G HSPA+ is available in your area? Check http://www.airportal.de/ or check my other thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1356522/

Like AT&T MVNO's, the chances of T-Mobile MVNO's (Simple Mobile, GoSmart Mobile, Spot Mobile, Walmart Mobile, Etc etc) getting LTE Access is doubtful, BUT Anyone who buys the T-Mobile compatible iPhone 5 will have the best Prepaid experience on any of the MVNO's as it will get access to HSPA+ 42Mbps+ network. (Personally thats a great deal! for $50/month, UNLIMITED EVERYTHING).

Current GSM/AT&T Model is pretty good as T-Mobile will continue to improve its 1900MHz network (great for people who live in/proximity of cities as it will get 3G and LTE support from T-Mobile, Only people that will be most out of luck from getting access to T-Mobile HSPA+ 42Mbps Network and LTE will be the Verizon iPhone 5 owners.

I will definitely be upgrading once next iPhone generation is released as currently its not worth it in my opinion to ditch my iPhone 5 and spend extra money on the exact same generation with the addition of a single band...iPhone 5S/6 will definitely worth the upgrade and it will be the ultimate world phone.

Update April 8/2013

T-Mobile has issued the "Carrier Update" in order to get it you must be directly on T-Moble (Not MVNO), Go to Settings -> General -> About

Update gives the following(Thanks to TMoNews):

- Visual Voicemail
- 4G network indicator (You are not Getting access to 1700HSPA+ Network if you have 1st Gen A1428 iPhone 5 or older model Its Simply a Marketing trick to replace "3G" with "4G")
- Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS)
- AWS LTE (T-Mobile and officially unlocked AT&T iPhone 5 only)
- HD Voice (T-Mobile and officially unlocked AT&T iPhone 5 only)
- AWS HSPA+ (T-Mobile and new 2013 AT&T iPhone 5 only)

Auto configures:

- MMS Settings
- Personal Hotspot Settings (Smartphone Mobile Hotspot)
- APN settings for LTE connectivity
- My Account bookmark

If you see "4G" now instead of "3G" Please keep in mind once again you are not getting access to 1700MHz HSPA+ 42Mbps T-Mobile Network, It's more of a market stunt/to keep everyone happy that they are on "4G".

Need a Prepaid Plan for your Unlocked iPhone? Check out my other thread: (Click Here)

Need to Unlock your AT&T iPhone, Samsung, HTC or any other AT&T Smartphone? Visit my site: (Click Here)

Appl3FTW · Mar 26, 2013

Spot on... I was gonna do one myself, u beat me to it... good job OP

Satnam1989 · Mar 26, 2013

Appl3FTW said:
Spot on... I was gonna do one myself, u beat me to it... good job OP

saw too many threads...ppl asking same questions over n over ever since the event....figured I would lay the ground work for those that are confused, anything I should add?

Appl3FTW · Mar 26, 2013

Yea add this... Disclaimer: android sucks kthxbai lulz

Looks good to me man

onthecouchagain · Mar 26, 2013

Thanks op!

I recently picked up an unlocked gsm iPhone 5 to use on tmobile. Going to return it as close to April 12 as I can within my grace period and pick up the new tweaked version.

Does anyone know if you get it from tmobile if you have to get their new plan? Like if I'm already a tmobile customer and I don't want to change my current plan can I just get their iPhone and pay their $579 price?

Satnam1989 · Mar 26, 2013

onthecouchagain said:
Thanks op!

I recently picked up an unlocked gsm iPhone 5 to use on tmobile. Going to return it as close to April 12 as I can within my grace period and pick up the new tweaked version.

Does anyone know if you get it from tmobile if you have to get their new plan? Like if I'm already a tmobile customer and I don't want to change my current plan can I just get their iPhone and pay their $579 price?

make sure you count your 14 or 30days well (which ever once applies to you), Also you should be able to buy it out right...but incase that doesn't work, if you bought yours from the apple store then you can definitely do the exchange for the tweaked one.

RotaryP7 · Mar 26, 2013

Great thread. This should stop the confusion.

upnorth85 · Mar 26, 2013

I read a post by someone who bought a BBRY Z10 today. He was on value plan, paid full price and had no change in plan status. I plan to buy the new iPhone 5 and give my "old" iPhone 5 to my mother in law

. Wife happy, me happy, m-in-law happy

onthecouchagain said:
Thanks op!

I recently picked up an unlocked gsm iPhone 5 to use on tmobile. Going to return it as close to April 12 as I can within my grace period and pick up the new tweaked version.

Does anyone know if you get it from tmobile if you have to get their new plan? Like if I'm already a tmobile customer and I don't want to change my current plan can I just get their iPhone and pay their $579 price?

tjl3 · Mar 26, 2013

Satnam1989 said:
(Personally thats a great deal! for $50/month, UNLIMITED EVERYTHING).

data speed capped.

jediistar · Mar 27, 2013

Satnam1989 said:
Since people seem to be a little confused about the iPhone 5 & T-Mobile network, I hope this helps:

T-Mobile Ready Tweaked iPhone 5: A1428 AKA AT&T/GSM Model
- 850/900/1700/1900/2100 HSPA+ & DC-HSDPA (Aka 4G/3G)
- LTE T-Mobile USA, AT&T, Rogers (Fido), Telus (Koodo), Bell (Virgin Mobile Canada), Wind Mobile Canada, Mobilicity
- Will Get 3G/4G Everywhere T-Mobile has coverage on 1700MHz AWS & in 1900MHz Refarmed areas (Not Limited to 1900MHz HSPA+ Reaffirm) & World Wide 3G on all other bands

Current iPhone 5: A1428 (GSM model)
- 850/900/1900/2100 HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (Aka 4G/3G)
- LTE T-Mobile, AT&T, Rogers (Fido), Telus (Koodo), Bell (Virgin Mobile Canada)
- No AWS T-Mobile 3G/4G Support!
- Will Only get 3G while on T-Mobile (Incl. MVNO's) in 1900MHz Refarmed areas & 2G/EDGE everywhere else
- Apple Will issue a software update to enable LTE Access....Everyone on T-Mobile (Incl. MVNO's) Can already access 1900MHz HSPA 21+ Network.

Current iPhone 5 A1429 (Verizon/Sprint Model)
- 850/900/1900/2100 HSDPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA & CDMA
- LTE: Verizon, Sprint and Carriers World Wide
- No AWS T-Mobile 3G/4G Support & no T-Mobile LTE [Sprint iPhone 5 Cannot be used within USA on any Network]
- Will Only get 3G while on T-Mobile (Incl. MVNO's) in 1900MHz Refarmed areas & 2G/EDGE everywhere else

iPhone 4 & 4S GSM Models
- Will Only get 3G while on T-Mobile (Incl. MVNO's) in 1900MHz Refarmed areas & 2G/EDGE everywhere else
- No LTE Support
- No 1700 AWS Support
- Only sold in limited markets where 1900MHz HSPA+21 refarm available/planned
- Verizon/Sprint models will be "Unofficially supported" much like now whenever Gevey/R-SIM is available...since when officially unlocked from carriers they only work overseas/internationally

Dont know if 1900MHz 3G HSPA+ is available in your area? Check http://www.airportal.de/ or check my other thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1356522/

Like AT&T MVNO's, the chances of T-Mobile MVNO's (Simple Mobile, GoSmart Mobile, Spot Mobile, Walmart Mobile, Etc etc) getting LTE Access is doubtful, BUT Anyone who buys the T-Mobile compatible iPhone 5 will have the best Prepaid experience on any of the MVNO's as it will get access to HSPA+ 42Mbps+ network. (Personally thats a great deal! for $50/month, UNLIMITED EVERYTHING).

Also for all we know T-Mobile will pull what AT&T did with its HSPA+ 21Mbps network and have Apple change the "3G" logo "4G" so everyone will/can feel like they are getting access to the "fastest" network.

Current GSM/AT&T Model is pretty good as T-Mobile will continue to improve its 1900MHz network (great for people who live in/proximity of cities as it will get 3G and LTE support from T-Mobile, Only people that will be most out of luck from getting access to T-Mobile HSPA+ 42Mbps Network and LTE will be the Verizon iPhone 5 owners.

I will definitely be upgrading once next iPhone generation is released as currently its not worth it in my opinion to ditch my iPhone 5 and spend extra money on the exact same generation with the addition of a single band...iPhone 5S/6 will definitely worth the upgrade and it will be the ultimate world phone.

Hey man, any concerns if I throw this up on TmoNews.com? I think it's way of breaking it down, moreso than my article yesterday. With source links and full credit of course, but thought I'd ask.

Satnam1989 · Mar 27, 2013

jediistar said:
Hey man, any concerns if I throw this up on TmoNews.com? I think it's way of breaking it down, moreso than my article yesterday. With source links and full credit of course, but thought I'd ask.

Yup that's no problem as long as you do what you stated above.

----------

tjl3 said:
data speed capped.

Image

I was speaking of mvnos, simple mobile for example is a great deal@ $50 as it will be much better than straight talk, if apple had enabled AWS on the current AT&T/GSM iPhone 5 I would have moved over in a heartbeat. They will slow you down no matter what carrier you are with if you use excess amounts of data on any given day. I'm on my phone all day browsing, emailing, etc (rarely YouTube) and I use about 3GB/month. It's not as bad as people think it is, use wifi where available and everyone can be happy.

Prime85 · Mar 27, 2013

Since its the same model number as the iphone i have now i should be able to use my applecare+ to exchange for the new version right?

Even though my network down here in miami is refarmed, i do travel for business a lot and when i was in tallahassee last week i was stuck on edge.

Satnam1989 · Mar 27, 2013

Prime85 said:
Since its the same model number as the iphone i have now i should be able to use my applecare+ to exchange for the new version right?

Even though my network down here in miami is refarmed, i do travel for business a lot and when i was in tallahassee last week i was stuck on edge.

Apple is a bit strict and will only replace it if you have a defect present in the iPhone, you may be able to and it will cost $50 to do so.

Prime85 · Mar 27, 2013

Satnam1989 said:
Apple is a bit strict and will only replace it if you have a defect present in the iPhone, you may be able to and it will cost $50 to do so.

I will give it a try even if i have to pay the $50, its either that or buy the 5S when it comes out and i really don't think it will be worth the upgrade.

apollo1444 · Mar 27, 2013

onthecouchagain said:
Thanks op!

I recently picked up an unlocked gsm iPhone 5 to use on tmobile. Going to return it as close to April 12 as I can within my grace period and pick up the new tweaked version.

Does anyone know if you get it from tmobile if you have to get their new plan? Like if I'm already a tmobile customer and I don't want to change my current plan can I just get their iPhone and pay their $579 price?

all that time defending android and bashing the iPhone? great choice LOL

jediistar · Mar 27, 2013

Thanks!

Posted it here!

http://www.tmonews.com/2013/03/taki...urrent-iphone-5-and-how-it-works-on-t-mobile/

aneftp · Mar 27, 2013

Once again folks. Anandtech has a great article:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6860/...hone-5-with-aws-wcdma-enabled-for-tmobile-usa

The "old A1428" iPhone 5 and the "new A1428" iPhone 5 have the same HARDWARE.

It's just that apple is choosing to not "enable" the firmware to support AWS 3g/fake 4G on the "old Iphone A1428"

Look at the FCC reading.

It even states "UMTS Band 4 (1700) DOES NOT REQUIRE and HARDWARE CHANGES to approved device"

http://images.anandtech.com/doci/6860/Screen Shot 2013-03-26 at 4.00.16 PM.png

Some of the hackers will figure a way around to enable the 1700 WCDMA function on the "old iPhone A1428" Apple has simply decided not to enable a chip that's already in the iPhone 5 to began with.

Look at the Nexus 4. It has Band 4 LTE chip. But Google/LG have decided not to promote it. And since it didn't clear FCC with Band 4 LTE, Google/LG do not have to acknowledged it's existence. Google/LG could easily send a letter to FCC (just like Apple above) and have the FCC approve the LTE device officially.

SR45 · Mar 27, 2013

Which band below guys is better for home/apartment signal penetration with concrete/Steele frame ?

850/900/1900 or 2100MHz band

Friend has T-Mobil now, but only getting 1 bar or no bars inside. This is very important to me, and somewhat confused. My thinking is the 850 or 900 band is better at home penetration. Any comments ? Thanks

Satnam1989 · Mar 27, 2013

SR45 said:
Which band below guys is better for home/apartment signal penetration with concrete/Steele frame ?

850/900/1900 or 2100MHz band

Friend has T-Mobil now, but only getting 1 bar or no bars inside. This is very important to me, and somewhat confused. My thinking is the 850 or 900 band is better at home penetration. Any comments ? Thanks

That is correct 850/900 band are the best for building penetration...T-Mobile runs on 1700/2100 AWS and 1900MHz 3G/4G HSPA+ network.

AT&T has 850/1900MHz for 3G/4G, 1700/2100 AWS for LTE and 700MHz for LTE.

900 is used mostly from my knowledge in Asia and Europe.

----------

jediistar said:
Thanks!

Posted it here!

http://www.tmonews.com/2013/03/taki...urrent-iphone-5-and-how-it-works-on-t-mobile/

Since Apple hasn't had the need to add "additional" hardware modifications to the "New/Tweaked" iPhone 5 A1428 I wonder if people can have a petition to force apple to update the modem firmware for the old A1428....I feel like apple is leaving a lot of people hanging with this minor issue...I understand with iPad 3 -> 4 they changed the chip which included support for more LTE frequencies that are used by other global carriers but this one is a easier fix than that....

----------

aneftp said:
Once again folks. Anandtech has a great article:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6860/...hone-5-with-aws-wcdma-enabled-for-tmobile-usa

The "old A1428" iPhone 5 and the "new A1428" iPhone 5 have the same HARDWARE.

It's just that apple is choosing to not "enable" the firmware to support AWS 3g/fake 4G on the "old Iphone A1428"

Look at the FCC reading.

It even states "UMTS Band 4 (1700) DOES NOT REQUIRE and HARDWARE CHANGES to approved device"

http://images.anandtech.com/doci/6860/Screen Shot 2013-03-26 at 4.00.16 PM.png

Some of the hackers will figure a way around to enable the 1700 WCDMA function on the "old iPhone A1428" Apple has simply decided not to enable a chip that's already in the iPhone 5 to began with.

Look at the Nexus 4. It has Band 4 LTE chip. But Google/LG have decided not to promote it. And since it didn't clear FCC with Band 4 LTE, Google/LG do not have to acknowledged it's existence. Google/LG could easily send a letter to FCC (just like Apple above) and have the FCC approve the LTE device officially.

that article is great, I just feel that we should have a petition and force apple into providing us a fix for our old A1428 since they have not physically changed anything in the "New/Tweaked" iPhone.....it seems to be a minor software related baseband firmware fix...I mean apple updates the baseband firmwares almost each and every iOS update but what do those updates really provide on the baseband level besides making Gevey/R-SIM's useless?

SR45 · Mar 27, 2013

Satnam1989 said:
That is correct 850/900 band are the best for building penetration...T-Mobile runs on 1700/2100 AWS and 1900MHz 3G/4G HSPA+ network.

AT&T has 850/1900MHz for 3G/4G, 1700/2100 AWS for LTE and 700MHz for LTE.

900 is used mostly from my knowledge in Asia and Europe.

----------

Since Apple hasn't had the need to add "additional" hardware modifications to the "New/Tweaked" iPhone 5 A1428 I wonder if people can have a petition to force apple to update the modem firmware for the old A1428....I feel like apple is leaving a lot of people hanging with this minor issue...I understand with iPad 3 -> 4 they changed the chip which included support for more LTE frequencies that are used by other global carriers but this one is a easier fix than that....

Thanks for the reply. For USA...Wondering, does the 1700 AWS penetrate much better than the 1900 Mhz band ? AT&T seems to be a much better carrier for penetration. Thanks

Satnam1989 · Mar 27, 2013

SR45 said:
Thanks for the reply. For USA...Wondering, does the 1700 AWS penetrate much better than the 1900 Mhz band ? AT&T seems to be a much better carrier for penetration. Thanks

I'm not 100% sure because from what I understand 1700/2100 AWS band works via 1700 & 2100 together? maybe someone else can explain better but thats my understanding. If you are indoors and have great edge coverage in your area with T-Mobile and fast WiFi at home then you shouldnt have any issues...my iPhone @ home is on WiFi 100% of the time and works great.

CEmajr · Mar 27, 2013

The Tmobile iPhone IS a hardware update. There isn't any firmware update that Applw can release to make the current A1428 compatible with Tmobile AWS HSPA+42.

This new A1428 is a pentaband iPhone. The only model Apple had ever sold with this many 3G radios.

SR45 · Mar 27, 2013

Satnam1989 said:
I'm not 100% sure because from what I understand 1700/2100 AWS band works via 1700 & 2100 together? maybe someone else can explain better but thats my understanding. If you are indoors and have great edge coverage in your area with T-Mobile and fast WiFi at home then you shouldnt have any issues...my iPhone @ home is on WiFi 100% of the time and works great.

Many thanks Satnam

aneftp · Mar 27, 2013

CEmajr said:
The Tmobile iPhone IS a hardware update. There isn't any firmware update that Applw can release to make the current A1428 compatible with Tmobile AWS HSPA+42.

This new A1428 is a pentaband iPhone. The only model Apple had ever sold with this many 3G radios.

Read the anandtech tech article plus read the FCC request by Apple. I posted it a few post above.

The 1700 WCDMA band has always been in the "old iPhone 5 A1428". It was just disabled by Apple at the carrier's request.

Once again. There is no hardware changes. Even Apple states to the FCC there is no hardware changes.

Satnam1989 · Mar 27, 2013

CEmajr said:
The Tmobile iPhone IS a hardware update. There isn't any firmware update that Applw can release to make the current A1428 compatible with Tmobile AWS HSPA+42.

This new A1428 is a pentaband iPhone. The only model Apple had ever sold with this many 3G radios.

From the article above it doesnt seem apple actually made any physical changes...but we will know when ifixit tears down the "New/Tweaked" iPhone down to showcase if there really is a difference....it just seems that Apple has updated the baseband firmware to allow 1700MHz support because truthfully the chips have always been able to support 1700MHz ever since 4/4S launch but apple never added the support from their end.

All you need to know about iPhone 4/4S & 5 + T-Mobile HSPA+/LTE

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