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iPhone 12 Lineup's mmWave 5G Support Limited to the United States

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As expected, the entire iPhone 12 lineup is compatible with faster 5G networks, but Apple's website confirms that support for high-frequency mmWave bands is limited to models sold in the United States. This includes compatibility with Verizon's new 5G Ultra Wideband network, which as of today is available in 55 cities across the country.

iphone-12-5g.jpg

mmWave is supported on all iPhone 12 models sold in the United States, ranging from the iPhone 12 mini to the iPhone 12 Pro Max. iPhone 12 models sold in all other countries and regions are limited to sub-6GHz bands for 5G.

mmWave is a set of 5G frequencies that promise ultra-fast speeds at short distances, making it best suited for dense urban areas. By comparison, sub-6GHz 5G is generally slower than mmWave, but the signals travel further, better serving suburban and rural areas. In most countries that offer 5G, sub-6GHz networks are more common.Apple says iPhone 12 models support more 5G bands than any other smartphone, and the devices can automatically adjust to LTE when necessary to save battery life, such as when updates are taking place in the background.

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro pre-orders begin Friday, October 16 at 5 a.m. Pacific Time, with shipments starting Friday, October 23. The smaller 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini and larger 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max are launching later, with pre-orders beginning Friday, November 6 at 5 a.m. Pacific Time and shipments starting Friday, November 13.

Article Link: iPhone 12 Lineup's mmWave 5G Support Limited to the United States
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/10/13/iphone-12-mmwave-us-only/
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I am about tired of US carriers (Verizon) pushing for this mmwave support across the board... The majority of the US will NEVER see mmwave 5G coverage (unless they can figure out how to make such a high frequency signal have FAR more range). So to push for mmwave inclusion (thus increasing cost) is crazy... Just add sub 6ghz support and call it a day. Verizon did this to Google with the Pixel 5 and Pixel 4a 5G. The pixel 5 actually costs less outside the US and the 4a 5G costs $100 more for the Verizon variant due to mmwave support.
 
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I want to hear more about this new "Verizon Nationwide 5G" that they talked about today.

They briefly mentioned it at the end.

Is that Sub-6GHz like the other carriers?
 
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I guess the question is will the 13 bring support for it to outside the US or has the rest of the world decided not to use it? If it is the latter I will probably get a 12 if it is the former I will get one of the now great value 11s and upgrade again next year.
 
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GeoStructural said:
5G is still not a thing, not even here. I live in a large tech-rich metro area and I still get 3G during my commute. I hope they give the option to deactivate 5G, I don’t want my phone searching for antennas to switch all the time.
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The mmwave never will be. The build out is impossible. By the time they do it something else will come along.
 
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GeoStructural said:
5G is still not a thing, not even here. I live in a large tech-rich metro area and I still get 3G during my commute. I hope they give the option to deactivate 5G, I don’t want my phone searching for antennas to switch all the time.
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3G!? Who's your carrier? I live in a medium sized US city near the mountains and I only ever see LTE. It may be 4G here and there in the mountains but NEVER 3G.
 
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QuarterSwede said:
3G!? Who's your carrier? I live in a medium sized US city near the mountains and I only ever see LTE. It may be 4G here and there in the the mountains but NEVER 3G.
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I actually got the dreaded "No Service" in a rural part of North Carolina.

It was especially frustrating since I needed to use GPS to leave the campground. Luckily I got service soon after I left.
 
In the UK carriers are using n78 (3500MHz) for 5G. O2 is looking at rolling out n40/band40 (2300MHz) at some point, all of which are support by all iPhone 12 regional variants.

There is an additional auction for long range 5G on 700MHz in the UK and parts of Europe (Italy?) but this isn't being used yet. According to https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/cellular/ this band is also supported on on regional variants (n12 and n28).

Europe and Canadian model iPhones don't support mmWave (above 6-GHz) 5G. At this stage, there is no mmWave in Europe, although the EU (and UK?) are looking to license 26Ghz (n258) mmWave at some point. However, the US model does not support n258 - it supports n260 (39 GHz) and n261 (28 GHz) which are not in the pipeline for Europe. So the additional bands of the US model are pointless outside the US.

I note there also is the 600MHz 5G band which is supported in the Canadian (and US) version, but not in the European one... Not sure what the pipeline is for this?
 
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So this goes for both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro models? No biggie as mmWave won't make it to where I leave in Norway for at least 2 years+ and even if/when it does it seems like a technology not really meant for phones. The fact that you pretty much need line-of-sight between the transceiver and receiver makes it look technology that is supposed to be used for high throughput point-to-point connections and not cellular phones that you keep moving all over the place.

Regardless I find it really stupid for Apple to make yet another thing "US-only". So many of Apple latest releases seem to be US-first making me feel like a lesser customer and user for not living in the US. Not to mention how mmWave is supposed to make production cost noticeably higher. So this basically means that Apple non-US customers are pretty much paying more for less when purchasing the iPhone 12 or 12 Pro.
 
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Tim182 said:
In the UK carriers are using n78 (3500MHz) for 5G. O2 is looking at rolling out n40/band40 (2300MHz) at some point, all of which are support by all iPhone 12 regional variants.

There is an additional auction for long range 5G on 700MHz in the UK and parts of Europe (Italy?) but this isn't being used yet. According to https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/cellular/ this band is also supported on on regional variants (n12 and n28).

Europe and Canadian model iPhones don't support mmWave (above 6-GHz) 5G. At this stage, there is no mmWave in Europe, although the EU (and UK?) are looking to license 26Ghz (n258) mmWave at some point. However, the US model does not support n258 - it supports n260 (39 GHz) and n261 (28 GHz) which are not in the pipeline for Europe. So the additional bands of the US model are pointless outside the US.

I note there also is the 600MHz 5G band which is supported in the Canadian (and US) version, but not in the European one... Not sure what the pipeline is for this?
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I’m with 02. So if I get an iPhone 12Pro I’ll get day one access to 5g with 02?
 
Michael Scrip said:
I actually got the dreaded "No Service" in a rural part of North Carolina.

It was especially frustrating since I needed to use GPS to leave the campground. Luckily I got service soon after I left.
Click to expand...
Oh we get No Service too. It's just when I'm on network it's either 4G or LTE. The mountains are great for when you need a weekend away from the boss. ;)
 
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GeoStructural said:
5G is still not a thing, not even here. I live in a large tech-rich metro area and I still get 3G during my commute. I hope they give the option to deactivate 5G, I don’t want my phone searching for antennas to switch all the time.
Click to expand...

Well, with Smart Data Mode, it won't unless 5G is actually available.
 
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sahni130 said:
i second this. Doesn't seem to be much/clear info on the Verizon site. Or maybe I'm dumb.
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You're not dumb. The Verizon guy spent too much time talking about their (practically useless) mmWave 5G... though they finally admitted that you'll likely only find it in Stadiums, Venues, and Airports.

I'm sure we'll get more info soon.

Upon further research... I'm reading that Verizon is now using dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) to basically split a tower's capacity between 4G and 5G.

So it sounds like you'll get 4G or soon 5G in most areas... but you won't get the insane 1gbps speeds unless you're in a major city on a sidewalk or stadium.

I'm fine with that. Though I honestly don't have a problem with 4G today.
 
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