iPhone 12 May See 5G Connectivity Issues in the UK

[Reason077]

It now appears that Three could be the only operator with enough 5G coverage for the ‌iPhone 12‌.

Of course it's going to depend where you live, but in my experience this is nonsense. I have a Huawei 5G WiFi router and have used it with both Vodafone and Three SIM cards in London.

The Three 5G network is currently rubbish in London, despite their flashy marketing. Very limited and spotty coverage, and if you don't get 5G (which is most of the time) you will drop to their absolutely terrible slow 4G network.

Vodafone's 5G coverage on the other hand has improved hugely during 2020, and now I seem to get a decent 5G signal through most parts of Central and East London where I go. And if you don't get 5G, you drop to Vodafone's great 4G network which is usually really fast anyway.

Speeds on Vodafone 5G are brilliant, I usually get 300-400 Mbps at my flat, so it's replaced wired broadband for me. I'm just hoping that the launch of the 5G iPhone doesn't affect this too much!

 

[69Mustang]

This doesn’t make a lot of sense.

​

it’s critical that the iPhone supports 700mhz for UK users.​

​

700mhz isn’t allocated to any network in the UK.​

how can both of these statements be true?

It makes sense. The entire article is speculative. The analysis is based on a couple of IF's.
If Apple doesn't support the 700MHz frequency

...say that iPhone 12 models may not support the 700MHz 5G band.

If the UK uses 700MHz frequency as the most common form of 5G

...and 700MHz is expected to be the most common form of 5G in the UK.

If the band is chosen, it's not available yet. The spectrum will be auctioned soon. The Telegraph believes it's likely that it will be crucial for the iPhone to support the 700MHz band because the near term future suggests that 700MHz is the band that will be the most common. In context, it should make sense. When parsed sans context, it can be a little hazy.

 

[Reason077]

So either pick Three with no visual voicemail or stick with 4G on EE, O2 or Sky and keep visual voicemail. Speed is nice but I’d miss voicemail more.

Don't go anywhere near Three. Just stay away. Trust me.

 

[itsmilo]

No problem for Germany! We don’t even have 5G* 😅


*unless you happen to live in a few testing spots and don’t move further than 5 meters from the antenna

I’d be happy to have anything over edge when visiting my parents.

I also see no use case of 5G especially with those insane data caps like the only thing I could see taking advantage of more speed would be streaming but I am for sure as hell not gonna dare to stream anything besides a a short YouTube video with „limited data usage“ settings enabled every once in a while on mobile data

 

[Marbles1]

Why buy a new mobile phone when we’re facing covid restrictions? May as well wait until things calm down a bit.

Who needs a 5G phone right now?

 

[Reason077]

5G has very low coverage in most cities anyway. Anyone with a 5G phone will mostly be connecting with 4G for a year or so.

In London, it's getting quite good now days (Vodafone network). I'm seeing good 5G coverage in most places I go now days, outdoors at least. There are lots of areas that had no 5G coverage just 2-3 months ago that now do. Excellent 5G speeds at my East London flat

700 Mhz will be for better coverage over wider areas, further away from cell sites and indoors.
3.6 Ghz will continue to be the workhorse for high speeds and high capacity

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Of course it's going to depend where you live, but in my experience this is nonsense. I have a Huawei 5G WiFi router and have used it with both Vodafone and Three SIM cards in London.

The Three 5G network is currently rubbish in London, despite their flashy marketing. Very limited and spotty coverage, and if you don't get 5G (which is most of the time) you will drop to their absolutely terrible slow 4G network.

Vodafone's 5G coverage on the other hand has improved hugely during 2020, and now I seem to get a decent 5G signal through most parts of Central and East London where I go. And if you don't get 5G, you drop to Vodafone's great 4G network which is usually really fast anyway.

Speeds on Vodafone 5G are brilliant, I usually get 300-400 Mbps at my flat, so it's replaced wired broadband for me. I'm just hoping that the launch of the 5G iPhone doesn't affect this too much!

this is how it is in the United States to.
Verizon is the only network currently supporting any form of MMWave, but it’s barely anywhere, and is extremely unreliable.
T-Mobile seems to be very quickly moving it’s 5G infrastructure, but the problem is, it could be slower than 4G at times.
This is all just proving that 5G is really just showing that the faster we get, the more diminishing returns.
I think in the future, 5G will be used for certain things. I think that MMWave Will work great for things like stadiums, huge corporate buildings, or centralized locations. Not exactly great for regular cities.
Also, 5G will be great for things like electric cars, AR glasses and doing things like virtual surgeries. Things were you absolutely need instant speed.
For scrolling through Facebook, or watching YouTube videos, LTE still works perfectly fine

 

[Sledneck52]

If I were to upgrade this year I would be getting the iPhone mini. Only because I don’t use social media. I only play one game “Toyblast” I dislike texting even more so when I see “green” text from the other person 🙄
I personally don’t see any major benefit to having 5G only because 4G in my area typically gets 30-50MBPS now. I don’t use my phone for streaming.
I do like the idea of the smaller form factor. My phone spends most of the day in my pocket.
I just need email and my work portal access.
the XS Max I have now is a bit cumbersome in my pocket while wearing a tool belt.
Just my two cents 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[Marzel]

Lol, it's a HUGE issue across Europe if it doesn't support the 700Hz band. Denmark for example already has 5G coverage on the 700Hz band and other countries are following. Actually, it would be the reason for me not to buy it. The 700Hz band is essential for early 5G adoption since it has very wide coverage (albeit slower speeds).

 

[CWallace]

Apple uses their own antenna in the iPhone 12 because Qualcomm's are too large. So if this claim about lack of 700MHz support is true, it might be a case that the Qualcomm modem inside the iPhone 12 can handle 700MHz, but the iPhone antenna cannot. And Apple might not be supporting 700MHz in 2020 if the coverage availability is limited as it sounds like the world's first "in the field" 700MHz 5G call was made only this August in China with a special setup between Qualcomm and China Broadcasting Network.

Qualcomm will have new x60 modems in 2021 on 5nm tech with a smaller antenna, so Apple could either adopt Qualcomm's antenna for the iPhone 13 or by 2021 700MHz will be wide-spread enough to justify adding it to Apple's own antenna on the iPhone 13 (again, assuming the iPhone 12 does not support 700MHz).

 

[ksec]

Does the X55 not support 700Mhz ? What about X60?

( Sorry I have no time to dig up the info myself at the moment )

 

[SSD-GUY]

TBH I don't think most people are buying this new iPhone for 5G. Furthermore, I'm yet to see a normal iPhone user actually utilise 5G speeds to their full potential. 4G is plenty enough for pretty much all iPhone use cases tbh. I've had no problems streaming things in 4K, downloading large files etc. What's more important is coverage, and for that reason, I'd stay well away from Three and go with EE or O2.

 

[polyphenol]

I thought EE had 5G coverage across a lot of the UK

A lot depends on your definition of a lot.

No more than 5% of area of the bit I live in - by eye.

https://coverage.ee.co.uk/coverage/ee#5G

 

[polyphenol]

TBH I don't think most people are buying this new iPhone for 5G. Furthermore, I'm yet to see a normal iPhone user actually utilise 5G speeds to their full potential. 4G is plenty enough for pretty much all iPhone use cases tbh. I've had no problems streaming things in 4K, downloading large files etc. What's more important is coverage, and for that reason, I'd stay well away from Three and go with EE or O2.

Though Three appear to have the most spectrum that will (we think) be covered by the iPhones 12.

And, as I have said before, where I am Three appears similar to EE in terms of coverage (partner has EE - mostly we have similar signal strength).

 

[Reason077]

Also, 5G will be great for things like electric cars, AR glasses and doing things like virtual surgeries. Things were you absolutely need instant speed.

And for streaming games in 1080p on Google Stadia, which is what I use it for. Smooth and lag-free!

(Unfortunately Stadia 4K streaming isn't supported on Mac yet, but I think it would probably work).

 

[Dolmio]

In terms of Uk no one is using the 700mhz band for 5G yet but as 5G is in its infancy and the non US versions look to not be supporting mmWave then prob if you looking at 5G you will need to upgrade in 2-3 years . I don’t think people will be upgrading for 5G alone as outside London it’s pretty nonexistent and LTE is probably what you will be using for atleast the next year

 

[Mr. Dee]

2023 is the sweet spot year to upgrade.

 

[polyphenol]

2023 is the sweet spot year to upgrade.

Not if your phone is already five years old, and dying battery.

 

[RONS67]

Who said 700 MHz won't be supported by iPhone 12? Oh, by the way, Apple might have something to say about this in a couple days.
Who says 5G is the only improvement in the iPhone 12?
I'm calling click bait.

 

[and 1989 others]

In some areas I can get a download speed of 87.5 Mbps on 4G that is twice as fast as my home 'fibre' broadband, which regularly streams two 4k screens simultanious with extra web browsing on top. I honestly do not see the advantage of 5G at this time, the lack of coverage right now, will not affect anybody.

 

[Oblivion1337]

If 700MHz is in pipeline for UK and 12 series does not support it, unfortunately we may need to sit out till Apple make their antenna work.
That’s what article trying to imply even tho spectrum auction is not up yet.

 

[m4mac]

North Wales here...still mainly GPRS and 3G so I won’t lose too much sleep over this.

Even in London there are areas with marginal data signal. I do wish they'd finish one project before starting another, such as build out the full 4G network first.

 

[polyphenol]

In some areas I can get a download speed of 87.5 Mbps on 4G that is twice as fast as my home 'fibre' broadband, which regularly streams two 4k screens simultanious with extra web browsing on top. I honestly do not see the advantage of 5G at this time, the lack of coverage right now, will not affect anybody.

From a very personal viewpoint, I am hoping that when 5G does eventually arrive, it just might somehow fill some of the current gaps in 3G/4G coverage. Not, to be sure, by design. Just by chance.

 

[cambookpro]

I can consistently get 200 Mbps+ on 4G on EE where I work. Not sure 5G would be an improvement!

I don’t think the 700 MHz issue will matter too much considering we haven’t even auctioned it off yet. I’d be highly surprised to see that part of the spectrum being used for 5G before at least a couple of years (by which time, I assume, the iPhone will have support).

 

[page3]

I thought EE had 5G coverage across a lot of the UK

Still pretty low coverage. However their 4G is pretty good, good enough to replace my horrendous BT FTTC broadband as my only source of home broadband. 😀