Carrier Can we talk 5g for a moment here?

[DogHouseDub]

Are you - very elegantly- stating that 5G will be great for many things and that at the same time you cannot come up with one example for an actual real world benefit other than guessing certain industries might benefit from it?

I live in the mountains - 30 min from Google, yet no hard lines for internet. The nearby AT&T tower shows up as 5G on the AT&T map. That would be a great way to get higher speed service to the house. I'm awaiting AT&T's release of the Netgear 5G hotspot for consumers.

FWIW, I'm using the AT&T 4G hotspot now.

 

[cynics]

Now I know 5g is not that significant yet exactly but regardless what iPhone model will support which bands? Will the lower two support just sub6 and the higher models support both sub6 and high band? Please!! I need answers !! On a side note, let’s see which carriers light up a significant amount of new 5g sites for this launch!!!

I can make some guesses for you.

Apple will do what they always do. They will launch 5G iPhones when they can meet there guidelines and there business practices.

You may remember LTE and how Apple was pretty much last to game. However you may also remember that turning LTE off was nearly a requirement due to the inefficiency of the launch LTE radios draining the battery. Apple will not stick a component to the iPhone that doesn't meet there power/performance requirements like other manufacturers will. Adding a massive battery to support the radio is just treating the symptoms not the cure for the problem.

Apple will be pressured by the big cellular providers because they will be able to transition to 5G vs upkeep on LTE. Even more so since 5G cost less to upkeep and maintain for the cellular providers. Honestly I feel 5G was built specifically to be more beneficial to the cellular providers than it was for the customers. We don't currently see anywhere near what LTE is capable of. All they have to do is offer what we get now maybe a bit more so we dont bitch about it and in doing so that will save them a fortune in upkeep, maintenance and infrastructure. There profit margins go up and customer service quality takes a baby step forward.

Apple will want the most universal radio they can get. For a business the size of Apple adding addition SKU for a location based radio due to bands is tremendously expensive. The cost extends from tooling, manufacturing, shipping, inventory management, warranty stock, and even unforeseen mishaps like miscalculating the demand for a particular SKU and not having a product to sell meanwhile you have overstock of a product you can't sell (double whammy to the wallet).

Which iPhones it 5G will be in is hard to say because we don't know what Apple is going to produce. A lot of time people are surprised a cheap model has such a good CPU/GPU or something but thats not Apple being nice thats Apple supporting their ecosystem or associated hardware. For example if a specific an older SoC can't decode face data they will have to use a newer SoC if the phone has FaceID. Or if HEVC decoding is a requirement an iPhone with an SoC that doesn't support hevc hardware decoding won't make the cut. This goes hand in hand with their "kits" to like ARKit. Conversely a budget model may not support 5G without too much of an overhaul to make it profitable.

 

[dannyyankou]

I’m so mad with Verizon, I just found out I can only get 5G if I upgrade to a different plan that’s $10 more per line per month. If I remember correctly, they didn’t charge extra for 4g back in 2010. Who knows, maybe they’ll change this when the iPhones are released. But anyway, I’m not paying $10 more per line per month for something that has spotty coverage at the moment.

Small correction here. Their “start unlimited” plan apparently does support 5G, even though they don’t list it as a plan feature on their website. But it’s just low band 5G. Which is still a noticeable improvement over LTE

 

[bushman4]

As time goes on we’ll see more uses for 5G with autonomous cars. AR. VR. etc
Don’t expect miracles upon release of the iPhone 12 other than bragging rights And most likely an increase in price from your carrier

 

[Joho2078]

As time goes on we’ll see more uses for 5G with autonomous cars. AR. VR. etc
Don’t expect miracles upon release of the iPhone 12 other than bragging rights And most likely an increase in price from your carrier

I expect a lot more 5g activities to continue and get stronger post launch because of the iPhone 12

 

[phobos512]

Does everyone really forget how long it took for LTE ("4G") to become a thing (I am sure though some of you are too young to remember)? How different carriers had different standards and/or technologies (remember WiMax)? How different carriers advertised things like HSPA+ as "4G" when it was the exact same thing you'd already had for years? This is all the same sh*t on a different day with 5G.

 

[rui no onna]

Does everyone really forget how long it took for LTE ("4G") to become a thing (I am sure though some of you are too young to remember)? How different carriers had different standards and/or technologies (remember WiMax)? How different carriers advertised things like HSPA+ as "4G" when it was the exact same thing you'd already had for years? This is all the same sh*t on a different day with 5G.

I remember. I also remember getting 20-50 Mbps on LTE before the masses jumped on board.

Nowadays, I only get 3G or slower speeds on LTE and the latency's bad enough I can't fast forward or rewind streaming video.

 

[digitalcuriosity]

When your phone provider tells you that next Month, it will be costing you $15 dollars more each Month you will understand all you need to know about the 5g.

 

[MacStreamer]

I just got 154 down on my 11 Pro using LTE. Not sure I would ever need or utilize 5G.

 

[dannyyankou]

Lol, there’s a petition in my neighborhood to stop 5G because of cancer and concerns that it will devalue property values. Shut up.