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iPad International LTE on iPad Air

A

atomicpete

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 2, 2012
18
0
I bought an ATT iPad 4 LTE last year to use around the world and was a little upset that it would not connect to the LTE networks in other countries but worked fine on the 3G networks.

Does anyone know on what countries' LTE networks the iPad Air will work on?

I am looking specifically for the following:

UK
Germany
GCC (UAE, Saudi, ect)
China
Malaysia
Australia
Singapore
Brazil

Thank you in advance!
 
Yes....

The Air can be used anywhere with existing LTE footprint. Out of the places on your list, only China doesn't have LTE yet but should be released in November sometime I think. The Wikipedia site below has a list of networks that have LTE. Hong Kong however is bathed in LTE if you need to use it there.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks
 
atomicpete said:
I bought an ATT iPad 4 LTE last year to use around the world and was a little upset that it would not connect to the LTE networks in other countries but worked fine on the 3G networks.

Does anyone know on what countries' LTE networks the iPad Air will work on?

I am looking specifically for the following:

UK
Germany
GCC (UAE, Saudi, ect)
China
Malaysia
Australia
Singapore
Brazil

Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...

The iPad Air supports the following LTE bands.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/LTE/

1 (2100 MHz)
2 (1900 MHz)
3 (1800 MHz)
4 (AWS)
5 (850 MHz)
7 (2600 MHz)
8 (900 MHz)
13 (700c MHz)
17 (700b MHz)
18 (800 MHz)
19 (800 MHz)
20 (800 DD MHz)
25 (1900 MHz)
26 (800 MHz)4

UK - Yes
Germany - Yes
GCC (UAE, Saudi, ect) - Yes
China - No
Malaysia - Yes
Australia - Yes
Singapore - Yes
Brazil (Brazil is rolling out Band 7 2600MHz) - Yes
 
Speaking from the UK, the Air supports all the LTE frequencies that are licensed here now but our 4G rollout is only just getting going really so coverage will be patchy. EE have had a year's head start by utilising existing spectrum but the other main players are rolling out now.
 
Great coverage

In fact , I believe the iPad Air has the most comprehensive global LTE band support of any single device on sale today. With a single bill of materials not customized for North America, Europe, etc. it can be used (with the appropriate SIM card) just about anywhere.
 
jetlife2 said:
In fact , I believe the iPad Air has the most comprehensive global LTE band support of any single device on sale today. With a single bill of materials not customized for North America, Europe, etc. it can be used (with the appropriate SIM card) just about anywhere.
Click to expand...

Same thing goes for the new iPhones. I'm really glad Apple has gone this far to include all these bands.
 
PDFierro said:
Same thing goes for the new iPhones. I'm really glad Apple has gone this far to include all these bands.
Click to expand...

The iPhone 5s is not universal. The U.S. version does not support band 7 2600MHz spectrum which is used in UK, France, Germany, Australia, Brasil and Mid East countries.
 
Coleman2010 said:
The iPhone 5s is not universal. The U.S. version does not support band 7 2600MHz spectrum which is used in UK, France, Germany, Australia, Brasil and Mid East countries.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Either way it has more bands than other phones will have.
 
It is a bit bizarre that they managed to get global support into a single model/chipset for the Air but not for the 5S which was launched less than two months earlier.
 
PDFierro said:
I really hope so. Otherwise the Verizon iPhone 5s looks like a really good option right now.
Click to expand...

I bought the Verizon 5s and I'm using it with T-Mobile.

I was surprised to see the U.S. version does not support Band 7 2600MHz spectrum which means I cannot get LTE when I travel to Brasil which is disappointing.
 
Coleman2010 said:
I bought the Verizon 5s and I'm using it with T-Mobile.

I was surprised to see the U.S. version does not support Band 7 2600MHz spectrum which means I cannot get LTE when I travel to Brasil which is disappointing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm going to be in Australia and other countries next year and liked how the 5s offered so many bands. I guess I'll have to settle for slow speeds in certain countries.
 
Is there somewhere that describes the differences between the iPad Air and iPhone 5s in terms of global LTE? That would be very helpful. Basically, what countries can you get LTE in on the Air but not the 5s? Although when it comes down to it, seems like you can at least get connectivity anywhere on both.
 
PDFierro said:
Is there somewhere that describes the differences between the iPad Air and iPhone 5s in terms of global LTE? That would be very helpful. Basically, what countries can you get LTE in on the Air but not the 5s? Although when it comes down to it, seems like you can at least get connectivity anywhere on both.
Click to expand...

The charts are below. As you can see in the chart the iPadAir is one model for global LTE. They should have done the same for the iPhone 5s.

http://apple.com/iphone/LTE/
http://www.apple.com/ipad/LTE/
 
Coleman2010 said:
The charts are below. As you can see in the chart the iPadAir is one model for global LTE. They should have done the same for the iPhone 5s.

http://apple.com/iphone/LTE/
http://www.apple.com/ipad/LTE/
Click to expand...

Thanks. Didn't realize the supported LTE networks were listed on there. So basically the Verizon 5s can be used anywhere in the world but you won't necessarily get LTE?

Looking forward to the iPhone 6 even more now. I really wish it had global LTE support like the iPad Air does.
 
Vertigo1 said:
It is a bit bizarre that they managed to get global support into a single model/chipset for the Air but not for the 5S which was launched less than two months earlier.
Click to expand...

It's not that bizarre. There's a lot more room and a lot more battery in the iPad air than on an iPhone. No doubt the chipset used in the Air probably takes up more real estate and consumes more power than the one chosen for the iPhone 5s. They could accommodate it much easier on a big, 10 inch wide device, but not so much on a handheld.
 
Coleman2010 said:
The iPad Air supports the following LTE bands.

http://www.apple.com/ipad/LTE/

1 (2100 MHz)
2 (1900 MHz)
3 (1800 MHz)
4 (AWS)
5 (850 MHz)
7 (2600 MHz)
8 (900 MHz)
13 (700c MHz)
17 (700b MHz)
18 (800 MHz)
19 (800 MHz)
20 (800 DD MHz)
25 (1900 MHz)
26 (800 MHz)4

UK - Yes
Germany - Yes
GCC (UAE, Saudi, ect) - Yes
China - No
Malaysia - Yes
Australia - Yes
Singapore - Yes
Brazil (Brazil is rolling out Band 7 2600MHz) - Yes
Click to expand...
This^^ ...they have new LTE chips in all new iOS devices this year (one reason they dropped the iPhone 5, the 5c is the same inside, but with new LTE chips).

New iPad Air & iPad Mini retina have one global cell model for all carriers, unlike previous models.

This answers the OP's question. ...iPhones are not the same, as they have to be compatible with the voice signals also, and there's more room in the iPads to put all the channels in one.
 
International Data with t-mobile

Thank you for the great information everyone!

Based on your advice I traded in my 4 for an Air and my 5 for a 5s on tmobile so I can "jump" to the 6 when it comes out. I will be able to trying both out in China, Malaysia, and Singapore in the next week and I will post a report...

I am a little concerned with how t-mobile is handling their international data. I used to be with ATT and I would purchase a plan and have data upon landing in whatever country.

Does anyone have experience with t-mobile now that they have free international data?

The rep at the t-mobile store said that I would be able to upgrade to a 2 week 500 MB plan via text message when landing in a different country, but that scares the heck out of me, I know what a pain in the butt it is to get a plan activated when you are out of the country.
 
atomicpete said:
Thank you for the great information everyone!

Based on your advice I traded in my 4 for an Air and my 5 for a 5s on tmobile so I can "jump" to the 6 when it comes out. I will be able to trying both out in China, Malaysia, and Singapore in the next week and I will post a report...

I am a little concerned with how t-mobile is handling their international data. I used to be with ATT and I would purchase a plan and have data upon landing in whatever country.

Does anyone have experience with t-mobile now that they have free international data?

The rep at the t-mobile store said that I would be able to upgrade to a 2 week 500 MB plan via text message when landing in a different country, but that scares the heck out of me, I know what a pain in the butt it is to get a plan activated when you are out of the country.
Click to expand...

Read this guy's experience with T-Mobile international data:

https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=18352354#post18352354
 
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