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

[davidf18]

I use Verizon with the iPhone 14 Pro Max in very crowded and congested Manhattan with 5G C-band and I get 200-300 and above download speeds. The C-band is fully dedicated to 5G, unlike other bands that share LTE and 5G, much slower.

People having trouble in major US cities should try Verizon.
As for Europe, much of the EU has not yet invested in 5G at all, let alone the dedicated 5G C-band (band n77).
Meanwhile all 3 major US carriers have invested heavily in 5G. AT&T also have 5G C-band.

Verizon has a nationwide rollout in major cities and I'd be surprised if Verizon customers in major cities aren't getting good 5G C-band.

You can test your signal strength.

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 better
RSRP is -112 to -95 is stronger.
freq_band_ind should be 77 for C-band. Both Verizon and AT&T use this n77 band.


Apple and Samsung 5G phones work throughout the world including China, so the problem appears to be something with India. Perhaps it is the use of Huwawei cell phone towers for 5G, which is banned by most Western countries.

https://www.fiercewireless.com/wireless/nokia-likely-swap-huawei-gear-vodafone-ideas-network-india

 

[FelixDerKater]

5G means so many different things in its many implementations. Except in a few locations it has been slower than 4G in the wild.

 

[iKaushal]

Here in Mumbai the 2 major operators Airtel and Jio have launched 5G....many andriod phone manufacturers have rolled out support for 5G....sadly Apple may do it in november.

Was hoping the 16.0.3 would bring 5G

 

[GeoStructural]

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.

I use Verizon 😕. I also have iPhone 14 Pro Max.

 

[davidf18]

I use Verizon 😕. I also have iPhone 14 Pro Max.

Which metro area are you in?
Did you use the field test mode? [*3001#12345%*]
Is your band number 77?
Is your RSRQ between -15 and -10, if not what is it?
Also RSRP?

Verizon has been deploying throughout the nation as can be seen from the memo below, they already deployed 60 MHz band and they started deploying the 100 MHz band almost 3 months ago.

7/18/22:

Verizon adds spectrum for faster speeds, better performance & greater availability of 5G UW

Verizon has started deploying with 100 MHz of C-band spectrum in many markets across the US, offering significantly higher speeds, much greater capacity

www.verizon.com

"Verizon has started deploying with 100 MHz of C-band spectrum in many markets across the US – a significant increase from the 60 MHz it has deployed in 5G markets to date."

 

[infinitegrid]

iOS 16.0.3 has enabled the 5G bands in India but it doesn't show up in settings or status bar. Appears on the Field Test app tho.

 

[d5aqoëp]

iOS 16.0.3 has enabled the 5G bands in India but it doesn't show up in settings or status bar. Appears on the Field Test app tho.

If that's Jio, it's clearly wrong because Jio's deployment is SA.

 

[TKSX]

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

I agree, especially how 5G increases battery consumption. For most people it is probably not an issue. For someone who wants to get through a whole day w/o using the charger then it can be an issue.

 

[name99]

"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."

Uhh, gee, do you think this might POSSIBLY be because
<<<
October 1, 2022, 2:11 AM PDT

India became the last major Asian economy to kick off a 5G network, marking a new wave of spending by indebted carriers on high-speed wireless technology that’s touted to revolutionize everything from gaming to manufacturing and health care.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the first 5G video call on Saturday to school students to demonstrate use of the service in education.
>>>

India Enters 5G Era as Debt-Laden Carriers Gird to Spend Billions

www.bloomberg.com

There's someone who's been delaying here over the past two years, but I don't think it's Apple...

 

[name99]

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?

Probably (among other things) the phone needs to engage in some negotiation (based on a certificate or whatever) to be sure that the phone is joining a legit network (as opposed to a random signal put out by criminals or whatever).
This certificate needs to be present in the OS, given to the OS vendors by the carriers. And this won't have happened if the carriers did not work with the phone vendors to make it happen...

Anyway with more detailed knowledge able to comment on this theory?

 

[name99]

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.

Remember that West Virginia houses the National Radio Quiet Zone, designated for the use of radio telescopes (especially Green Bank). Once you enter or get close to that zone, you're not going to get much signal; but that has nothing to do with 5G or any other G.

 

[Gengar]

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.

Really? I feel like I never see No Service/SOS with AT&T, while driving. With my T-Mobile line, it might just be in a couple of places, but it's only for a few minutes at most.

 

[svish]

Don't think there is any urgency as it will take some time before 5G coverage is actually available everywhere across the country. But hopefully Apple issues a software update and enables 5G

 

[chickeneaster]

AT&T 5G+ is super slow for me; it's either not as fast as regular 5G or it's considerably slower. I thought that when AT&T activated 5G+, it would be a LOT faster.

 

[chickeneaster]

Really? I feel like I never see No Service/SOS with AT&T, while driving. With my T-Mobile line, it might just be in a couple of places, but it's only for a few minutes at most.

Same here, I very rarely see No Service on AT&T

 

[slyronit]

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

If it was a hardware problem they won’t be fixing it in December with a software update would they?