Hopefully, this will help some people...
http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/
It IS confusing... and unlike the 4s, there is NO UNIVERSAL LTE MODEL
Read on if you want more explanation (or confusion!
)
LTE lets you go REALLY fast.
3G and 4g (HSPA+ according to AT&T
) lets you go sort of fast, but not as fast as LTE.
Think of it this way- LTE is like a Superhighway or Interstate here in the US. It has a faster speed limit than local roads.
If your car had a speed restrictor or 'governor' on it, you wouldn't be able to go as fast on the Superhighway as cars without that speed restrictor. But you could still go the slower speed, e.g., the speed limit on the local roads. And you could still get around, just at a slower speed.
The iPhone 5 limits where you can go really fast to a small subset of Superhighways. It does this because it doesn't have access to all of the LTE channels around the world.
Apple chose to do this because there isn't a single chip that covers all LTE speeds yet. To add all the chips needed for worldwide LTE coverage would require the phone to be larger.
By only including SOME LTE channels on each model, it kind of (but not literally) places speed restrictors on your phone in that it only allows you go REALLY FAST on certain channels (or roads to continue the analogy).
So unless your country has its LTE on one of the channels covered by the particular model of phone, you are limited to local road speed. (3g, 4g)
The AT&T model ONLY has LTE channels that work in the US and Canada. If it's UNLOCKED, you can still use it in Europe, but at the slower speed.(local roads)
The Verizon model sold here in the US will allow LTE on Verizon's CDMA LTE network AND on SOME of the European LTE Networks, etc.
But the bottom line is that there is NO universal, Worldwide LTE iPhone5, meaning that you can't buy ONE handset and have it work ON LTE everywhere in the world.
Depending upon the model you buy (see the discussion in this thread and the above link), if you get an UNLOCKED phone, you CAN have it work in other parts of the world at the slower, non-LTE speeds. And in some countries, you can even get it to function at the faster LTE speed. (see the chart)
And to add to the confusion, there is no STANDARD European LTE model because the various countries in the EE use a variety of channels for their LTE. (you need to see which country uses which channel. For example, NONE of the current iPhone 5 models will work at LTE speed in Spain because it uses a different LTE frequency altogether).
But, depending upon the model you buy, you CAN get an UNLOCKED iPhone 5 to work in many European countries just at the slower, non-LTE speeds. (and again, in some countries, you can even get it to function at the LTE speed)
Confusing? You bet!
