Faster mmWave 5G Still Limited to U.S. iPhone 17 Models

[MacRumors]

The new iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max continue to offer mmWave 5G connectivity in the United States, but the faster 5G speeds have not yet expanded to other countries. Outside of the U.S., the new iPhone models are limited to sub-6GHz 5G.

mmWave 5G has been exclusive to the United States since 5G connectivity launched in the iPhone 12. Other countries have been slower to adopt mmWave 5G, but it is becoming more widely available in countries like Australia, China, South Korea, Japan, and Europe. The higher frequency mmWave spectrum is not as practical as lower and mid-band 5G spectrum because of its limited range.

It's expensive for carriers to build mmWave networks, and it is expensive for Apple to offer the hardware to connect to those networks. Carriers don't have motivation for faster 5G when devices don't support it, and Apple doesn't see the need to roll out mmWave support in countries where adoption is low.

mmWave offers the fastest 5G speeds, but it primarily makes sense for big cities and crowded locations like concert venues, stadiums, and airports. It is short range, and cannot penetrate obstacles like sub-6GHz 5G can. Sub-6GHz is more widely adopted because it works in cities, suburban areas, and rural locations.

Unless something changes with 5G adoption and rollout, it's not likely that Apple's stance on mmWave 5G availability is going to change. In fact, the M4 iPad Pro models eliminated mmWave 5G support entirely, and Apple opted for 5G modems that only support sub-6GHz spectrum.

Because the iPhone Air has Apple's custom-designed C1X modem, it also does not support mmWave 5G. Like the C1, the C1X is only compatible with sub-6GHz 5G. The other iPhone 17 models use Qualcomm modems and in the U.S., can use mmWave spectrum on networks that offer it.

Article Link: Faster mmWave 5G Still Limited to U.S. iPhone 17 Models

 

[CWallace]

Never saw mmWave 5G on AT&T, but it (mid-band) is almost common for me on Verizon.

 

[brownj218]

Do we know if non-US phones will come without the cutout on top?

 

[clunkmess]

Would rather the Pro phones get the C1X instead of showing off a speedtest on mmWave🧐

 

[Nozuka]

I wonder how many people actually do stuff that needs this kind of speed.

I guess it can be useful if the iPhone is used as a hotspot...

For my phone usage i can't even tell a difference between 4G and 5G.

I would also prefer the C1X with improved battery life.

 

[jntdroid]

Never saw mmWave 5G on AT&T, but it is almost common for me on Verizon.

Are you sure it's actually mmWave? The locations are exclusive and few and far between, and Verizon puts "UW" on it whether it's mmWave or mid-band (which truly is widespread and very fast on its own).

 

[Zangoose]

Do we know if non-US phones will come without the cutout on top?

Should do - For example on the UK site the renders/images of the iPhone's don't have it shown.

 

[verdi1987]

I wonder how many people actually do stuff that needs this kind of speed.

It’s useful for places like concert venues and stadia due to its higher capacity and—assuming you have line of sight—for fixed wireless.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

Should do - For example on the UK site the renders/images of the iPhone's don't have it shown.

What cutout ?

 

[Scaredfocus]

Should do - For example on the UK site the renders/images of the iPhone's don't have it shown.

Interesting, so the uk models get less battery, no extra antennas at the top. What else?

 

[arc of the universe]

5mm wave is useful at sporting events, where there are a lot of people in a fixed, compact location, and where the 5mm deployment limitations work best.
if you do want the fastest speeds at these type of events, then the qualcomm modems are essential.
also if you keep yr phone for 4 or 5 years, in terms of future proofing you do need to make the calculation whether or not 5mm tech still won't be so common in 2030 if you elect to go with a C1/C1X model.

 

[applyr]

Physical SIM tray?

Interesting, so the uk models get less battery, no extra antennas at the top. What else?

 

[FastLaneJB]

Do we know if non-US phones will come without the cutout on top?

UK person that recently moved to the USA.

UK iPhones don't have the cutout for the mmWave, the normal frame just continues as normal in that space.

I wonder how many people actually do stuff that needs this kind of speed.

I guess it can be useful if the iPhone is used as a hotspot...

For my phone usage i can't even tell a difference between 4G and 5G.

I would also prefer the C1X with improved battery life.

I don't think personally it's about the speed per person. I mean great when not many people are on it and for bragging rights but it's for handling large groups of people in tight spaces as others have mentioned.

The networks in the UK personally compared to the USA aren't nearly as good but I'm not sure it's because of under investment in networks but more it's a small country with a dense population compared to the USA. This means it's easier for the cell towers to get overloaded and either speeds to drop off or data to drop completely. We don't help this by having 4 major providers so it means the radio spectrum is shared between 4 companies, not 3 like in the USA. Yes you want competition but not too much in this space the core companies as it means each of them end up with less bandwidth each.

Looking forward to getting a US iPhone. I've not noticed an issue for most part having a UK iPhone here but I've mostly been in urban areas but I believe you can use 700Mhz bands for long range in really rural areas and my iPhone doesn't support that. Of course no mmWave either but that I think is a lesser issue.

 

[IIGS User]

Never saw mmWave 5G on AT&T, but it is almost common for me on Verizon.

In town sports complex has 5Gmm and when it went hot a few years ago I drove to the lot just to see what it was capable of.

The speeds are impressive. Hard to see what I would ever use it for. I was there on a non game day so there’s probably a lot of extra capacity there.

We have a fair amount of VZW 5G “UW” around here. It’s pretty zippy and in some spots equals the ability of some home WiFi connections. The technology is impressive when available.

 

[contacos]

Wouldn't really matter here in Germany anyway. They still do this nonsense and limiting the 5G speed, depending on your plan like 25 mbit or 50 mbit ist pretty mich still the norm. I could "upgrade" to 100 mbit speed for 3 bucks extra each month

 

[ZipZilla]

From the inside, I can tell you mmwave has been a bust for the carriers. The only way they can make money with it is to sell fixed wireless (5G Home internet) and the uptake is low and return rate is high.

It's great at sporting events and crowded places, though

 

[Zangoose]

Interesting, so the uk models get less battery, no extra antennas at the top. What else?

We don't currently use mmwave in the UK so there isn't much point them adding it to the phones they sell over here.

 

[ab2c4]

Whether I'm on 5g, LTE, or mmWave on my 16 Pro everything seems to run at the same speed internet wise. Granted, I am not uploading nor downloading massive files, just regular internet.

 

[kalafalas]

I wonder how many people actually do stuff that needs this kind of speed.

I guess it can be useful if the iPhone is used as a hotspot...

For my phone usage i can't even tell a difference between 4G and 5G.

I would also prefer the C1X with improved battery life.

For my experience it’s less about speed and more about capacity, useful for music festivals and sports stadiums

 

[CoMoMacUser]

I wonder how many people actually do stuff that needs this kind of speed.

I guess it can be useful if the iPhone is used as a hotspot...

For my phone usage i can't even tell a difference between 4G and 5G.

mmWave is overkill for phones and most other mobile devices. It's ideal for fixed wireless access applications such as residential broadband and enterprise branch offices.

 

[FastLaneJB]

From the inside, I can tell you mmwave has been a bust for the carriers. The only way they can make money with it is to sell fixed wireless (5G Home internet) and the uptake is low and return rate is high.

It's great at sporting events and crowded places, though

I'm not surprised and why I don't think it's a case of other countries being slow to adopt. I think they basically decided pretty early on they just had no plans to adopt.

There's little need for the faster speeds on a phone so other than solving capacity problems in crowded spaces, there's probably little need. I think the USA has decided they do want to try to solve that and in the UK I think the networks have said the cost to do so isn't worth it and people actually kind of expect their phones not to work well in busy locations so actually why waste the money trying to solve it.

Used to piss me off though. When 4G was the fastest I'd often go to Kings Cross train station in the UK. I could be in there with 5 bars of 4G but also be unable to open a webpage or even send a text message. Too many people in a tight space basically and not enough bandwidth to go around.

 

[Teletypewriter]

mmWave 5G is also built into my cellular M1 iPad Pro and my iPhone 15 Pro Max.

 

[CWallace]

Are you sure it's actually mmWave? The locations are exclusive and few and far between, and Verizon puts "UW" on it whether it's mmWave or mid-band (which truly is widespread and very fast on its own).

Honestly where I live, it probably is mid-band and as you noted, it's very fast (far faster than AT&T).

 

[victorvictoria]

The best thing about this article is the ad in the sidebar:

 

[zach-coleman]

From the inside, I can tell you mmwave has been a bust for the carriers. The only way they can make money with it is to sell fixed wireless (5G Home internet) and the uptake is low and return rate is high.

It's great at sporting events and crowded places, though

I’d love to have it at home but unfortunately the closest one is slightly out of range. 🫠

I’m kind of shocked Apple hasn’t just dropped it on all their models. They dropped it from iPads, and now it’s gone from the Air too.