FaceTime over cellular

If you feel 'truly limited' by the LOWEST tier data plan you can always pay ten more dollars to get 10X the amount of data.

I guess its safe to say the new iPhone will have LTE.

But you are right, common sense would tell them they are going to using their data to transmit video...but you know there will be dozens of people that supposedly "didn't know." Lol.

DipDiveDodge said:

@Spectrum: You're right; which plan are you on? I wonder how many minutes of FaceTime you could get on the 3GB plan.

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Facetime usage rounded is 3MB a minute. Therefor you can get over seventeen hours of video use on a cellular network[3GB data plan] before being charged over. That's of course meaning all you did was Facetime with your data plan[3GB], but realistically the average user could expect 10-14 hours of available Facetime data with other activity included.

I can't imagine most users have the entry level data. I figure most would have the $30 a month option.

Either way, you couldn't expect to get very far on so little data.

Ambiguous thought. Apple says Cellular using your iPhone number and not 3G data. Could this be a deal with the carriers to use/count towards your phone minutes (maybe 5 to 1) instead of your data plan?

Spectrum Abuser said:

Facetime usage rounded is 3MB a minute. Therefor you can get over seventeen hours of video use on a cellular network before being charged over. That's of course meaning all you did was Facetime with your data plan, but realistically the average user could expect 10-14 hours of available Facetime data with other activity included.

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This is true for iOS 5, but I'm curious to see if Apple has done anything additional to iOS 6 video compression to make the carriers happy. It's just a little odd that they would randomly allow Facetime over 3G, like they're the ones that were the reason for the delay. I'm curious to see if they compressed the video down to 2mb or lower to please the carriers and having them allow it to be transmitted over cellular data.

Julien said:

Ambiguous thought. Apple says Cellular using your iPhone number and not 3G data. Could this be a deal with the carriers to use/count towards your phone minutes (maybe 5 to 1) instead of your data plan?

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No way! AT&T dropped all their texting plans except unlimited so as not to lose out on $ when iMessage came out. This is a gold mine for them. They're not going to let facetime data slide...

jnl1211 said:

No way! AT&T dropped all their texting plans except unlimited so as not to lose out on $ when iMessage came out. This is a gold mine for them. They're not going to let facetime data slide...

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It wouldn't slide if it counts against your phone mins.

vertigo235 said:

It wouldn't slide if it counts against your phone mins.

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It counts against data.

Note to apple, this has already BEEN out, its called "Tango"

I hate how it was never enabled in the first place, all mainly because the US, it's about time I get to use my unlimited data to it's full extent.

iShorty said:

I hate how it was never enabled in the first place, all mainly because the US, it's about time I get to use my unlimited data to it's full extent.

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Quite.

I really wish Apple would stop caring about AT&T.

Really don't like this. Only reason I say that is because people will do this behind the wheel, which is worse than texting.

mncmoore said:

Really don't like this. Only reason I say that is because people will do this behind the wheel, which is worse than texting.

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Apple should add an official "voice only" option. I would feel stupid to make video calls all the time and it would also use less data - and I would finally come closer to my dream of not spending a single cent on outdated and overpriced services such as SMS and cellular phone calls.

And why the hell should Apple care about what a few US carriers think? Even outside the US one was unable to use Facetime over cellular and Personal Hotspot only if the carrier was kind enough to allow it. Carriers should stop telling people what to use their paid data for and Apple should stop helping carriers to prevent the innovative use of data plans.

*Calypso* said:

...And why the hell should Apple care about what a few US carriers think?....

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Because like it or not the carriers ARE Apple's business partners.

Julien said:

Because like it or not the carriers ARE Apple's business partners.

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This doesn't explain why the restrictions enforced by the US carriers also apply to non-US customers. I bought my iPhone in Germany without any plan and still suffer from the same restrictions. Let's just hope Facetime over cellular is truly unrestricted and not secretly linked to certain (US) data plan options (e.g. you have to add a $10 Facetime option). Again, the US is not the only market Apple sells their iPhones in (also see discussion on US-only 4G support on the new iPad).