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Apple Plans to Enable 5G in Dual SIM Mode With Software Update Later This Year [Updated]
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No 5G on dual sim with 14.3, unfortunately. Tested it with my father’s handset here in The Netherlands. Why isn’t this available outside China if the phones do use the same hardware?
Keep in mind there was never a commitment by Apple to have dual-SIM 5G support outside of China.
The Verizon slide might have been fake or simply a best guess.
China uses two physical SIM cards...not one physical and on eSim like everywhere else.
We should also keep in mind that this limitation was not made known by Apple until after the fact. My phone was purchased with no knowledge of this issue.
Consumers in the U.S. were made aware of this limitation on day one when Apple posted the iPhone 12 specs (footnote 12 on the spec page).
Sorry, but you're mistaken. When I ordered my phone via apple.com, that footnote had not yet been added. It was added after the initial orders took place.
Nope. It was added after the issue made the news.
Any news re this topic? I meanwhile found an Apple page, which reads like this insufficiency is permanent and cannot be cured by software update... ( https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211828 )
I’ve been watching this with great interest. Hardware-wise, there is no reason it cannot be supported. The Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 modem is widely used, and supports dual SIM and 5G+4G modes, and eSIM modes. Samsung uses it in the S20, which supports DSDS.
The only place I can see a challenge in implementation is potentially power savings related. Even if it says 5G, if you’re in 5G Auto And you’re idling or doing low bandwidth activities, it’s quietly using only 4G. Again though, this seems like modem firmware at worst, iOS software at best. Hardware is clearly fine in the China iPhone, although they do not have a mmWave antenna.
By DSDS you mean 5G on both sims? I am currently using an esim as my primary and a physical sim as my secondary number. I would need 5G at least on my primary number (esim). Anxiously waiting for it.
I use 5G on instead of 5G auto, but I believe that 5G auto would not permanently show 5G in the top bar. At least that's how it looked for me.
Dual SIM, Dual Standby, which is how it has been for iOS for a whlie. The X55 modem in particular supports 5G+4G, which means 1 SIM can be on 5G while the other is on 4G. So the point is more that the modem is fully capable of doing what we want, and it does this on other 5G phones already.
5G On = 5G where available, regardless of whether it's needed
5G Auto = 5G where available, but if not really needed, use 4G LTE (but it will still show 5G in the upper right)
I think the "small minority" might actually be quite large. In fact the major issue is that if you are owning an Apple Watch with Phone Connectivity, the way that most providers worldwide manage to enable your Apple Watch to work on telephone networks is by assigning the Apple Watch an e-Sim which is normally associated to your phone sim card as second "number". In this way they have all of the accounting and traffic control already implemented without doing anything. This is unfortunately enough to cut out your iPhone 12 from being able to ever get to 5G... so how many people who own an iPhone also have an Apple Watch?
Apple Watch connectivity is not related. You can get 5G on your phone with a cellular Apple Watch.
Correct. But to address the original concern, there are a large number of us who expected a 5G dual-SIM phone. Both features were advertised, and it wasn't readily apparent that they were mutually exclusive (you pick 5G OR dual-SIM, but can't have both simultaneously). This has been really disappointing, since I actually have a Verizon 5G UWB tower staring at me from across the street, and I have to turn off my work phone line every time I want to access the fastest speeds.
The question now is, when will we actually get this software update? I have been hoping to try out 5G, but the ability to have my work number, and my personal number in one device far outweighs whatever 5G would bring to me, since I refuse to carry two phones.
I would be happy with 5G access with just one of my lines. I don't need it on both lines, in fact, I don't even need data at all on that line.
The iphone 12, as far as I know, still supports dual sim with 4G. The state of 5G in the US seems to be all over the place. If one wanted an iphone 12 strictly for 5G, that would be a purchase I personally wouldn't make. Maybe by the end of 2021 there will be a big movement in 5G.
Would you return the phone if the performance is not to your expectations?
YOU wouldn’t, but I work from home and can get ultra-wide-band 5G while I’m sitting at my desk from the tower across the street. 5G isn’t a joke for a lot of iPhone 12 purchasers.
YOU'RE lucky. Reading through a lot of the 5G threads, 5G performance is meh to OK. Most of the time, people complained about battery life on the iphone 12. I don't know if you have an iphone 12 or some android model.
I can't imagine any scenario in a desk job, unless ones' sole function is to upload and download multi-gigabyte IOS files, and your sitting in a place where mmwave is active, where 5G would make a difference as the state of 5G is today for more than a select few. As far as I know there isn't even any cheap unlimited plan on any carrier for using your phone as a hotspot, which makes 5G for a desk job all that less appealing.
And if 5G makes a big difference in your job, certainly some details would be welcome.
If Apple intended to add the feature, the support article would likely read "This feature will be included in an upcoming release of iOS 14." I don't think it's coming either.
Still not upgrading to 5G.
99% of my time is spent in Grand Rapids, MI and AT&T seems to have the whole area AROUND the city surrounded by 5G, but not where I live.
Will definitely upgrade when I start traveling on a regular basis.
99% of my time is spent in Grand Rapids, MI and AT&T seems to have the whole area AROUND the city surrounded by 5G, but not where I live.
Will definitely upgrade when I start traveling on a regular basis.