Apple Reportedly Set to Roll Out iPhone 5G Support in India in December [Updated]

[MacRumors]

Apple will add support for 5G on compatible iPhones for Indian carriers through a software update as soon as December, according to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to ET News.

According to the publication, Apple and the Indian carrier Airtel will meet this week to discuss why Apple's iPhones are not compatible with India's 5G networks. Apple is reportedly already testing 5G support on iPhones in Mumbai and New Delhi, with an update officially adding support possibly being rolled out in December, the report said, citing a source.

A separate report from Reuters says the Indian government is placing pressure on Apple and Samsung to adopt 5G support for their latest smartphones. Apple first added support for 5G with the iPhone 12 in 2020, and two years later, Indian iPhone customers are still unable to use the newer and faster network. On Wednesday, the Indian government, alongside executives from Apple, Samsung, and leading carriers in the country, will meet "to prioritize" adding support for 5G on the latest smartphones.

Update: In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple has confirmed it will release a software update in December to add support for 5G on compatible iPhones for Indian carriers.

We are working with our carrier partners in India to bring the best 5G experience to iPhone users as soon as network validation and testing for quality and performance are completed. 5G will be enabled via a software update and will start rolling out to iPhone users in December.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Set to Roll Out iPhone 5G Support in India in December [Updated]

 

[yellow8]

5G is not even available in my current place in Europe...

 

[AppleTO]

“Apple and the Indian carrier Airtel will meet this week to discuss why Apple's iPhones are not compatible with India's 5G networks.”

Simple, it’s not supported because of a conditional statement in the code. 😉

 

[AMagicianNamedJOBs]

They’re not missing much. 5G was completely overhyped, the leap from 3G to 4G brought the real mobile revolution IMO.

 

[ghostface147]

They’re not missing much. 5G was completely overhyped, the leap from 3G to 4G brought the real mobile revolution IMO.

C-band 5G is better though. For me, where Verizon’s 5G/LTE signal was terrible to non-existent, 5G Ultrawide works better.

 

[Nomax2000]

„Apple first added support for 5G with the iPhone 12 in 2020, and two years later, Indian iPhone customers are still unable to use the newer and faster network.“

Aha…

IMC 2022 highlights: PM Modi inaugurates 5G at IMC 2022

IMC 5G India launch Live updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 5G services in India today at the sixth edition of the India Mobile Congress.

indianexpress.com

11 days ago.

 

[IIGS User]

5G is not even available in my current place in Europe...

Ditto in a lot of places in the US. 5G ended up being the Ford Edsel of wireless offerings.

C-band 5G is better though. For me, where Verizon’s 5G/LTE signal was terrible to non-existent, 5G Ultrawide works better.

I live in one of the major markets cleared for the earlier 5G C band deployments and VZW's coverage map seems to be more marketing than information. In some places, it works great. In other places where VZW claims coverage, you get nothing.

the LTE speeds are much better than the 5G (non C band or mm wave) in most areas. I get a full signal where I live on both systems, and the speeds are usually twice as fast on LTE than 5G.

Forget about coverage at work. I can't make reliable phone calls from my 2nd floor office with a window let alone data.

Verizon's coverage has not kept up with the competition, and anymore it's about retaining customers as opposed to getting new ones. VZW better get their stuff together.

 

[glsillygili]

5G is a joke. A lot of times LTE/5Ge is faster than 5G on AT&T.

 

[filmbuff]

I have 5g turned off because it's worse almost everywhere I go.

 

[switz]

Real progress here in the east side of Phoenix sprawl?! 😳

Now with all the new 5G towers in the area, I get just a single dot for a signal strength rather than four bars when all we had was LTE.

 

[aasimtech]

Surprising that while the Indian government launched 5G by PM Modi to much fanfare & hype on 1st of Oct 2022, they had no consultation with big players like Apple & Samsung before the launch? Good that they are planning to consult & meet now. But such consultations should have happened before the much hyped 5G announcements in India. Lack of groundwork I would say.

 

[Htsi]

It’s for sure stupid. Lack of proper communication.
I enjoyed using 5G it was faster than LTE for me, and that was 2 years ago.

 

[Htsi]

Surprising that while the Indian government launched 5G by PM Modi to much fanfare & hype on 1st of Oct 2022, they had no consultation with big players like Apple & Samsung before the launch? Good that they are planning to consult & meet now. But such consultations should have happened before the much hyped 5G announcements in India. Lack of groundwork I would say.

Samsung however has working 5G on their recent flagships already.

 

[Htsi]

Cellular as a whole though is a mess that needs a lot of innovation.
I can get 170 down and 4 up or 0.5 down & up on my LTE connection. And this is on their higher plan which prioritizes speed.

 

[CarAnalogy]

“Apple and the Indian carrier Airtel will meet this week to discuss why Apple's iPhones are not compatible with India's 5G networks.”

Simple, it’s not supported because of a conditional statement in the code. 😉

Yeah I don’t understand why they are meeting like they are trying to solve a mystery. The network operator in question is not certified in iOS, just like Google Fi. End of story. As for why, it’s usually a business decision not to pay Apple to certify it, which is why Google Fi is not certified.

So as usual the answer to just about everything that doesn’t make sense is “money.”

 

[Kottu]

In certain places within city limits I get 5G in my 12PM since last year in Sweden. Speed varies between 60 mbps to 1600 mbps. But is it gonna be a revolution for most of us? I am satisfied with 4G in my mobile as I don't play games with need of low latency. At home I have fiber. I can understand the need of 5G for people who don't/can't have fiber at home and need a faster connection.

Apple knew that India is rolling out 5G in October. So, they should have prepared to support their customers at once. Especially when low priced Chinese phones support 5G from the day one!
In India 4G speeds are low so 5G will make things much easier as it can accommodate more connections than 4G. For many in India mobile is their modem, router etc..

 

[aasimtech]

Samsung however has working 5G on their recent flagships already.

FYI. News from India though says otherwise.

Government Said to Push Apple, Samsung to Update Phones With 5G Support

The government is said to have scheduled talks with phone makers "to prioritise" and release software upgrades for supporting the high-speed network.

gadgets360.com

 

[GeoStructural]

They’re not missing much. 5G was completely overhyped, the leap from 3G to 4G brought the real mobile revolution IMO.

Totally agree. I live in a major metro area in the US and 5G is just so unreliable that I decided to toggle the settings to 4G-LTE permanently.

US cities are too spread out, losing connectivity while driving is a thing. And when reaching a destination I often had to put my iPhone in airplane mode briefly just to kickstart the modem again, it was so annoying.

 

[Mr. Dee]

LTE here and I don’t feel like I have missed out on anything really.

 

[slyronit]

Strange. Why does the phone need a software update to use Indian 5G networks? Surely it would just be a carrier version update? Does anyone know the technical reason behind this?

 

[sstiwari]

Strange. Why does the phone need a software update to use Indian 5G networks? Surely it would just be a carrier version update? Does anyone know the technical reason behind this?

I suspect, something is being concealed. May be apple modem hardware lacks support for Airtel 5G Bands. I am really curious!

 

[BBCWatcher]

The iPhone 12 series and higher are technically capable of operating on Airtel's and Jio's new 5G networks except for mmWave. (Only U.S. edition iPhones have mmWave hardware.) So there's nothing here to get excited about. Presumably Apple and the carriers will update the carrier settings in due course to light up low/mid band 5G on iPhones.

 

[compwiz1202]

Ditto in a lot of places in the US. 5G ended up being the Ford Edsel of wireless offerings.




I live in one of the major markets cleared for the earlier 5G C band deployments and VZW's coverage map seems to be more marketing than information. In some places, it works great. In other places where VZW claims coverage, you get nothing.

the LTE speeds are much better than the 5G (non C band or mm wave) in most areas. I get a full signal where I live on both systems, and the speeds are usually twice as fast on LTE than 5G.

Forget about coverage at work. I can't make reliable phone calls from my 2nd floor office with a window let alone data.

Verizon's coverage has not kept up with the competition, and anymore it's about retaining customers as opposed to getting new ones. VZW better get their stuff together.

I was amazed how quickly we got 5G in Allentown PA. With LTE it took years. And now I am seeing more UW. But when we went to WV, there was zero 5G until we got back to PA. Some places on Interstates had no coverage?? My work is the same. I have to be on LTE in some places or data doesn't work. But it seems to be partially the device. I always had to manually enable LTE on my 13PM, but the Z Flip 4 toggles it auto, and I never have serious issues. A few places are a little sluggish, but it always eventually goes through. I wonder if 14 is any better.

 

[davidf18]

Totally agree. I live in a major metro area in the US and 5G is just so unreliable that I decided to toggle the settings to 4G-LTE permanently.

US cities are too spread out, losing connectivity while driving is a thing. And when reaching a destination I often had to put my iPhone in airplane mode briefly just to kickstart the modem again, it was so annoying.

You should switch to Verizon. I have the iPhone 14 Pro Max and I get 200-300+ Mbps downloads on the 5G C-band in very crowded Manhattan. I've been able to leave my phone on only 5G since the iPhone 12 came out about 2 years ago.

To gauge your signal strength:
call *3001#12345#* for Field Test Mode
Look under 5G NR Rach Attempt
Look at RSRQ, RSRP, freq_band_ind

RSRQ is best -15 to -10 or beter
RSRP is -112 to -95 is stronger.
freq_band_ind should be 77 for C-band.

 

[RajBan]

Strange. Why does the phone need a software update to use Indian 5G networks? Surely it would just be a carrier version update? Does anyone know the technical reason behind this?

They have disabled the 5g selection in India. As someone commented it's most likely some conditional statements coupled with config items that needs to be changed and a patch needs to be pushed for India devices. Probably they wanted to avoid 5G as an option due to lack of commercial provider to avoid unnecessary customer selections.