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Are most people really going to be happy with an LTE iPhone?

A

andyx3x

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 1, 2011
1,349
137
If everyone had unlimited data, great. No problem. The problem is the data caps. Simply put, data caps make the advantages of LTE irrelevant. The caps prevent anyone from making use of the full potential of an LTE network.

The LTE that is offered by major wireless carriers is a waste of money because it comes with strict data caps. These data caps actively discourage the types of activities that LTE enables. Activities that are made possible by LTE, such as watching movies or uploading video to the internet, are made impossible by the data caps. As a result most users will avoid taking advantage of these new services out of fear of incurring large overage fees.

I tried out the Galaxy Nexus for 3 days in late December before returning it for battery life issues. I was completely shocked by how much data LTE was using for things that took very little data on 3g.

So my prediction is that there will be a lot of overage issues in the first few months the next iPhone comes out causing a lot of angry people. They just won't understand how they can't do the same things on LTE that they did on 3g without paying more money for it.
 
andyx3x said:
If everyone had unlimited data, great. No problem. The problem is the data caps. Simply put, data caps make the advantages of LTE irrelevant. The caps prevent anyone from making use of the full potential of an LTE network.
Click to expand...

Let me stop you right there. The fact that you can get your information loaded faster does not have to translate to consuming more information (data). If I am looking up where to go for dinner, it might take me a few seconds less to accomplish this goal with LTE. I am not using any more data than I would have over 3G, it's just that it's not taking me as long to get the information I need.

andyx3x said:
So my prediction is that there will be a lot of overage issues in the first few months the next iPhone comes out causing a lot of angry people. They just won't understand how they can't do the same things on LTE that they did on 3g without paying more money for it.
Click to expand...

It's certainly possible. I know AT&T will shoot you a text when you hit 75% of your data cap. Unless your data cap is extremely low (300 mb) that should be enough time to warn you to lay off the data. Really I don't see too many having problems unless they decide to start tethering or streaming heavily with their newfound speed.
 
lordofthereef said:
Let me stop you right there. The fact that you can get your information loaded faster does not have to translate to consuming more information (data). If I am looking up where to go for dinner, it might take me a few seconds less to accomplish this goal with LTE. I am not using any more data than I would have over 3G, it's just that it's not taking me as long to get the information I need.



It's certainly possible. I know AT&T will shoot you a text when you hit 75% of your data cap. Unless your data cap is extremely low (300 mb) that should be enough time to warn you to lay off the data. Really I don't see too many having problems unless they decide to start tethering or streaming heavily with their newfound speed.
Click to expand...

Sure you load data a little bit faster and instead of that google search taking 4 seconds it only took .5. But we are talking about speeds that blow away most people's home Internet, and sadly it will never be used to its potential because if money hungry carriers in the US. I'd say once you get above 6 Mbps you will not notice the difference in everyday tasks on your phone. Where you would see it is where the OP was talking about - streaming HD movies, steaming high bitrate songs, uploading HD movies, large downloads, large backups of data, video calling, etc. These potential uses become mute points hen you have ridiculous data caps like 5GB. It just becomes a marketing number.
 
Frankied22 said:
Sure you load data a little bit faster and instead of that google search taking 4 seconds it only took .5. But we are talking about speeds that blow away most people's home Internet, and sadly it will never be used to its potential because if money hungry carriers in the US. I'd say once you get above 6 Mbps you will not notice the difference in everyday tasks on your phone. Where you would see it is where the OP was talking about - streaming HD movies, steaming high bitrate songs, uploading HD movies, large downloads, large backups of data, video calling, etc. These potential uses become mute points hen you have ridiculous data caps like 5GB. It just becomes a marketing number.
Click to expand...

Speeds are going to slow down from the crazy numbers people are pulling as soon as 18 kazjillion LTE iPhones hit the airwaves. I don't disagree that marketing is the reason why they impose caps, but that doesn't make what I said any less true. The money has to come somewhere and that money is always from the customer's wallet.
 
You realize LTE phones have been around for awhile now right.

Apple may take a page out of the competition with a way built into the OS to track data and warn you of data use is at a level you set. Or even turn off mobile data at a certain level. Verizon has a widget the size of a single icon that can also display how much data you used, works great. Nice if apple would allow that too.

Regardless I keep my iPhone tethered to an LTE tablet so I can get the speed. I've never exceeded my 3GB data cap.
 
lordofthereef said:
Let me stop you right there. The fact that you can get your information loaded faster does not have to translate to consuming more information (data). If I am looking up where to go for dinner, it might take me a few seconds less to accomplish this goal with LTE. I am not using any more data than I would have over 3G, it's just that it's not taking me as long to get the information I need.
Click to expand...
This has actually been researched. As it turns out, faster data speeds in fact equals higher data usage.

That's just how we work: the quicker we are done, the quicker we move on. The quicker we are done browsing one site, the quicker we move on browsing another website.
 
I've been using a Verizon 4G LTE mifi device for a while, and after driving to San Francisco on vacation from San Diego, it really depends on how much coverage you have in your location if you are going to be happy with LTE. In San Diego, I'm satisfied with LTE, but LTE coverage is spotty... so it switches to 3G evdo often. I don't mind the 3G, but it is slower than my AT&T 3G data... but the lag when it switches is what I can't stand. When we got to San Francisco, 4G LTE signal was awsome in the city... and I enjoyed my Verizon 4G LTE mifi device more in SF compared to SD. When I upgrade to an LTE iPhone, I'll stick with AT&T. I just hope the lag time when the AT&T LTE iPhone switches from 4G LTE to 3G (and the other way around) is better than my Verizon mifi. I'm keeping my Verizon 4G LTE data also... since it's nice to both options... especially when I travel.
 
The real advantage w/ LTE is the lower ping time. It makes everything "feel" snappier. There are very few applications where one "needs" 20 or 30 megabits of connectivity on a mobile device.

Of course the carriers will milk LTE and all the sheep for all they are worth. Voice and text have become freebies thrown in after the fact. They are all becoming dumb pipes despite their best efforts to stop it. Data is all they have left and you can bet your last penny they'll take it...if you let them.
 
Doubt it'll make a difference for me. I have fast wifi at home and decent enough at work.
 
Wirelessly posted

I get poor signal and terrible data speeds at work. Really terrible speeds.

If I can get faster poor-signal speed on LTE vs 3G I'll take it.
 
ThatsMeRight said:
This has actually been researched. As it turns out, faster data speeds in fact equals higher data usage.

That's just how we work: the quicker we are done, the quicker we move on. The quicker we are done browsing one site, the quicker we move on browsing another website.
Click to expand...

Doesn't seem to be a problem with all those LTE Android devices (which I personally use and frequent forums on as well). But hey, I am no expert. You could be right. Exactly how much more are these people usiing based on the research. 5%? 50%? The numbers may be so small that it still wouldn't make a difference for the average consumer.
 
erayser said:
I've been using a Verizon 4G LTE mifi device for a while, and after driving to San Francisco on vacation from San Diego, it really depends on how much coverage you have in your location if you are going to be happy with LTE. In San Diego, I'm satisfied with LTE, but LTE coverage is spotty... so it switches to 3G evdo often. I don't mind the 3G, but it is slower than my AT&T 3G data... but the lag when it switches is what I can't stand. When we got to San Francisco, 4G LTE signal was awsome in the city... and I enjoyed my Verizon 4G LTE mifi device more in SF compared to SD. When I upgrade to an LTE iPhone, I'll stick with AT&T. I just hope the lag time when the AT&T LTE iPhone switches from 4G LTE to 3G (and the other way around) is better than my Verizon mifi. I'm keeping my Verizon 4G LTE data also... since it's nice to both options... especially when I travel.
Click to expand...

Which MiFi are you using? The lag time between 3G/4G was pretty bad on the early Samsung and even the original Novatel hotspot. The newer 45xx/46xx seem to do a lot better on that. I agree on having both providers available. Between the two you should be covered most anywhere.
 
ThatsMeRight said:
This has actually been researched. As it turns out, faster data speeds in fact equals higher data usage.
Click to expand...

This has certainly been my experience with my Verizon LTE iPad 3. When I'm in a LTE area (which has been everywhere so far) I use about 100MB per hour surfing the web and using the e-mail client (no streaming or downloading at all). LTE is so fast that you actually want to use it just as much as being connected to a fast wifi connection at home. My iPhone 4 on AT&T is so slow in comparison that I don't use nearly as much data.
 
chiefpavvy said:
Which MiFi are you using? The lag time between 3G/4G was pretty bad on the early Samsung and even the original Novatel hotspot. The newer 45xx/46xx seem to do a lot better on that. I agree on having both providers available. Between the two you should be covered most anywhere.
Click to expand...

I have the Verizon Novatel 4510L bought in April 2011. Don't get me wrong... I'm still happy with product, and I've been using Verizon mifi's since the 2200, but the lag does get annoying when you are surfing on safari... it and it hangs because it's switched.
 
I can drive 70 miles in any direction and stay in solid HSPA+ coverage in the 3mb to 6mb range.

Coverage is far more important to me than peak speeds.

If I were on a CDMA carrier LTE might be more important, but even then LTE is years away from having the same class of coverage.
 
erayser said:
I have the Verizon Novatel 4510L bought in April 2011. Don't get me wrong... I'm still happy with product, and I've been using Verizon mifi's since the 2200, but the lag does get annoying when you are surfing on safari... it and it hangs because it's switched.
Click to expand...

I hear ya. I've got the JetPack 4620L it seems to be a little better when switching. Not night and day but an incremental improvement at least.

And I still have a trusty 2200 which I keep "just in case" and can put active if needed.
 
Technarchy said:
I can drive 70 miles in any direction and stay in solid HSPA+ coverage in the 3mb to 6mb range.

Coverage is far more important to me than peak speeds.

If I were on a CDMA carrier LTE might be more important, but even then LTE is years away from having the same class of coverage.
Click to expand...

I have to agree. During my long drive to SF and back, my AT&T data coverage was a lot more dependable than my 4G LTE/3G evdo mifi. But LTE worked great in the northern california cities. I wish I had that kind of LTE coverage in SD.

chiefpavvy said:
And I still have a trusty 2200 which I keep "just in case" and can put active if needed.
Click to expand...

I do too... lol. :)
 
I'll take hspa+ anyday, at least for right now. I was hoping newer chip sets out this year would be make LTE more efficient but doesn't seem so. Maybe next year lol? The reason the newer Android devices can stay pretty much all day on LTE use is mainly b/c of the large battery capacity, some are 2-3X larger than the iPhones 1400mah battery. Honestly using Verizon LTE and hspa+ on AT&T I don't really a see a difference, maybe a split second here and there. For what mobile phones are used for and the heaviest task in general being browsing with multiple tabs open, hspa+ is more than enough for a mobile device. I've honestly had my wifi off by accident and didn't know, even though my home network is 20-25 down.

Unless your downloading massive files and media to your phone there's no real difference. I.E. home networks, I can't tell a difference between by speeds and my friends Fios connection even though it's shows way higher speeds. The only time a big difference is notice is when downloading movies, or other large media type files, much faster in that case. But honestly whose download GB+ size files to their phones all the time?

I think a big issue for the next iPhone if it is LTE enabled, will be battery life. There's no real room for a larger battery, and with the smaller capacity vs other phones the iPhone would drain way faster on LTE, even if Apple was able to bump it up 200+mah or so. There will be a ton of po'd iOS users when they see what LTE does with a smaller battery vs the 2500-3500+ Android batteries. Hope Apple will be smart enough to enable LTE to be switched off by the user.

With hspa+ you get fast speeds and normal 3G battery life, like I've said before on here thats a win win situation to me. Hopefully next year we'll see chipsets make LTE more efficient, but then you have data cap issues.
 
SurferMan said:
The reason the newer Android devices can stay pretty much all day on LTE use is mainly b/c of the large battery capacity, some are 2-3X larger than the iPhones 1400mah battery.
Click to expand...

I think the typical high end Android phone has more like 25-50% more battery capacity than the iphone. It's really going to depend on the LTE modem and chipset Apple uses on the next iphone. LTE battery life is improving at a pretty good pace. The LTE version of Galaxy S3 has a 2150ah battery and are reported to get pretty good battery life on LTE despite its power hungry 4.8" SAMOLED screen.
 
einmusiker said:
Dont know what 'strict' data caps you're referring to but I use 15-20 gb 4G per month on vzw and yet to be throttled
Click to expand...

You've obviously got unlimited data right now but I assure you, they will get you off of that in the very near future. I don't buy this "if you buy the phone unsubsidized, you will keep your unlimited data." I don't believe they intend to let you do this for one second.

----------
SurferMan said:
There will be a ton of po'd iOS users when they see what LTE does with a smaller battery vs the 2500-3500+ Android batteries.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Just look at the number of battery issue threads that came out when the 4S was released. That number will pale in comparison to what is coming this fall.
 
lordofthereef said:
Let me stop you right there. The fact that you can get your information loaded faster does not have to translate to consuming more information (data). If I am looking up where to go for dinner, it might take me a few seconds less to accomplish this goal with LTE. I am not using any more data than I would have over 3G, it's just that it's not taking me as long to get the information I need.
Click to expand...

Well said.
People think just because its LTE and its fast they will use 10 times as much data than before.
If you view the read the same websites and do the same tasks as before it doesnt mean you will use more data than you did before on 3G or HSPA+
 
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