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iPhone 12 May See 5G Connectivity Issues in the UK

KrisLord said:
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?
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How does the fact that the 700MHz band for 5G may or may not be auctioned yet to carriers have anything to do with the fact that the 700MHz band is critical for coverage and 5G use inside buildings and thus it is critical that phones supporting 5G support the 700MHz band? The two are not mutually exclusive, nor is it necessarily an issue exclusive to iPhone, but any phone with a 5G modem that does not support 700MHz.

Or, if you turn it around, any country that does not offer a low frequency band like 700MHz for use with 5G.

You need both. You need the band to be available and you need the phones to support the offered band. Both are critical for penetration and range, and thus usability and adoption of 5G.
 
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throttlemeister said:
How does the fact that the 700MHz band for 5G may or may not be auctioned yet to carriers have anything to do with the fact that the 700MHz band is critical for coverage and 5G use inside buildings and thus it is critical that phones supporting 5G support the 700MHz band? The two are not mutually exclusive, nor is it necessarily an issue exclusive to iPhone, but any phone with a 5G modem that does not support 700MHz.

Or, if you turn it around, any country that does not offer a low frequency band like 700MHz for use with 5G.

You need both. You need the band to be available and you need the phones to support the offered band. Both are critical for penetration and range, and thus usability and adoption of 5G.
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Possibly just as unreliably, it is suggested that the Three carrier in the UK might already have sufficient bandwidth not to need to use 700MHz. Hence their customers might be fine regardless.
 
There's no 5G in my area of London, and I work mostly from home so my iPhone is mostly connected to WiFi
 
page3 said:
Surely you care about 5G where you don’t live. At home you have broadband, WiFi calling etc.

(excepting of course those of us living in areas with crappy broadband infrastructure)
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My city is fairly well covered and at the moment I can’t go much farther!
 
Right, so what this article essentially shows is, there will barely be any 5G network in the UK for the next 2 years - regardless of what the iPhone supports or not.
There is no point in Apple adding 700MHz in their phones if the UK is the only country using it and if it won;t be auctioned (let alone deployed) until a year from the launch of the phones.
Can't believe Hutchison/Three will provide any decent coverage, seeing as it's consistently been the spottiest network in the UK for as long as I can remember.
Now, I don't know what 5G will really bring to the average consumer when it comes out - inevitably in London and hyper centres where 4G is already good. I already get faster data over 4G (~55-150Mbps) than over FTTN (76Mbps).

Maybe Apple could sell a £50 cheaper version of the iPhone 12 for the UK without 5G?

MacRumors said:


The upcoming iPhone 12 may have serious issues connecting to 5G in the United Kingdom, reports The Telegraph.

iPhone-12-5G-New-1.jpg


The report cites "industry insiders" who say that iPhone 12 models may not support the 700MHz 5G band. Lower-spectrum bands such as 700MHz are crucial to 5G coverage since they are far-reaching and penetrate well through walls and buildings, and 700MHz is expected to be the most common form of 5G in the UK.



If the iPhone 12 does not support the 700MHz 5G band, it will likely result in carrier Three being afforded a major advantage in the UK market. Three has acquired large amounts of the 5G spectrum, so it would be better able to handle a lack of 700MHz support by using a range of other bands.

The situation may be similar to the launch of the iPhone 5 in 2012, when EE was the only telecoms operator with enough coverage to reliably offer the latest connectivity in the UK. It now appears that Three could be the only operator with enough 5G coverage for the iPhone 12.

If the 700MHz band does turn out to be supported by the iPhone 12, British customers will not be able to use the band as it has not yet been acquired by an operator. The 700MHz band is set to be auctioned to telecoms operators by Ofcom in early 2021.

The iPhone 12 lineup is almost certain to appear on Tuesday at Apple's "Hi, Speed" event, where more specific details about 5G spectrum support will likely emerge.

Article Link: iPhone 12 May See 5G Connectivity Issues in the UK
Click to expand...
 
kyjaotkb said:
Can't believe Hutchison/Three will provide any decent coverage, seeing as it's consistently been the spottiest network in the UK for as long as I can remember.
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I have always found Three pretty good. Been with them for years.

Far better than Vodafone. And O2.

Very similar to EE in my neck of the woods. Used to have a work phone on EE, and partner also has EE. So
I have always had a ready comparison.

But I am very well aware that all the networks vary considerably and some locations are far better than others.
 
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polyphenol said:
I have always found Three pretty good. Been with them for years.

Far better than Vodafone. And O2.

Very similar to EE in my neck of the woods. Used to have a work phone on EE, and partner also has EE. So
I have always had a ready comparison.

But I am very well aware that all the networks vary considerably and some locations are far better than others.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. For me, in London, going from Three to EE has been a game changer. But glad to see some people are happy with them - at the rates they offer, you're in a good place!
 
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This is not only an issue in the UK, but also in the EU27 Member States and other countries that follows spectrum harmonisation Decisions in the EU, like Norway.

The 700 MHz band has either not yet been licensed or is not yet available in several Member States and probably won't be until sometime at the end of 2020 or during 2021 on a larger scale.

5G in the 700 MHz-band might give you better coverage compared to 5G in the 3400-3800 MHz band, but since there is only 2x30 MHz available in total (+20 MHz Supplemental downlink for those countries that have opted in), you won't be blown away speedwise by 700 MHz 5G, but probably see better latency compared to 4G.

You will probably see better speeds, if you're in an area with good LTE coverage (1800 MHz, 2100 MHz or 2600 MHz) as there is more bandwidth available.

So from a user perspective, this won't have much impact at all. If the new iPhone 12 lineup will not be supporting 5G in the 700 MHz band, it's a sensible decision by Apple. It should be supported from iPhone 13 next year though.

The real gains from 5G will be from the 3400-3800 MHz bands as well as of course the mmWave bands like the 26 GHz (Europe) or 28 GHz (US) band.
 
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kyjaotkb said:
Right, so what this article essentially shows is, there will barely be any 5G network in the UK for the next 2 years - regardless of what the iPhone supports or not.
There is no point in Apple adding 700MHz in their phones if the UK is the only country using it and if it won;t be auctioned (let alone deployed) until a year from the launch of the phones.
Can't believe Hutchison/Three will provide any decent coverage, seeing as it's consistently been the spottiest network in the UK for as long as I can remember.
Now, I don't know what 5G will really bring to the average consumer when it comes out - inevitably in London and hyper centres where 4G is already good. I already get faster data over 4G (~55-150Mbps) than over FTTN (76Mbps).

Maybe Apple could sell a £50 cheaper version of the iPhone 12 for the UK without 5G?
Click to expand...

Honestly this, i wish Apple would just sell a Iphone 12 mini 4G version for £50 less or something. For me personally 4G is fast as it is, and i have no real interest in 5G at this point in time.
 
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Sounds good to me. Maybe in 2 or 3 years time the world of apps and online services might evolve in some way that makes me change my view but for now 4G does all I need.

I plan to buy a 12 Pro Max for other reasons, assuming Apple doesn’t disappoint in some way tomorrow, but the only 5G feature that I am desperate to see in my next phone is a toggle in Settings to disable it completely to be sure that I’m not wasting battery life on something I don’t need and, if this rumour is true, something that won’t even work in the U.K. anyway.
 
The funny thing is that 6g will come out before 5g is perfected and rolled out across the whole UK well. 4g is plenty fast enough, the issues it has and always has had for every iteration of wireless internet is the coverage. I have never felt like a good 4g connection is slow. What I have found is that I simply don't get a decent connection a lot of the time.
 
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We need more carriers to do standalone 4G. Get rid of everything else below totally.. Refarm and then work on standalone 5G. Sounds aggressive but I would get rid of all legacy within 5yrs.
 
MrDerby01 said:
We need more carriers to do standalone 4G. Get rid of everything else below totally.. Refarm and then work on standalone 5G. Sounds aggressive but I would get rid of all legacy within 5yrs.
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I'd be perfectly happy to see 3G disappear except for one issue. There are places where I can get 3G but not 4G.

Afraid I don't know whether the transmitters are always co-located, or not. And I also don't know how much impact the very detailed local conditions have on the signals.

What would concern me, though, is the possibility of having no coverage where there is now 3G only.

Others have said we should ensure the gaps are filled before moving on. I agree. In this case, require 100% geographical coverage for 4G. Including a few miles out to sea.

(Yes, I am totally ignoring those who have phones, etc. without 4G.)
 
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kyjaotkb said:
Fair enough. For me, in London, going from Three to EE has been a game changer. But glad to see some people are happy with them - at the rates they offer, you're in a good place!
Click to expand...

Funny thing is, I only pay a few pounds more per month for unlimited data on Vodafone as I was paying on Three. And the quality of service is astronomically better. At peak times, my download speeds are more than 100X faster in my London flat. Much more reliable and better coverage, also.

Only thing I miss from Three is the free global roaming.
 
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Reason077 said:
Funny thing is, I only pay a few pounds more per month for unlimited data on Vodafone as I was paying on Three. And the quality of service is astronomically better. At peak times, my download speeds are more than 100X faster in my London flat. Much more reliable and better coverage, also.

Only thing I miss from Three is the free global roaming.
Click to expand...
This is something I'd really miss if I left 3, but I don't see myself travelling for a while.
 
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Reason077 said:
Funny thing is, I only pay a few pounds more per month for unlimited data on Vodafone as I was paying on Three. And the quality of service is astronomically better. At peak times, my download speeds are more than 100X faster in my London flat. Much more reliable and better coverage, also.

Only thing I miss from Three is the free global roaming.
Click to expand...
But for me, Vodafone is truly dreadful!
 
by the time that 5G is actually useful, the iPhone will be using a micro LED Display, sailing at 120+Hz, with a 3 NM processor, a much smaller or possibly nonexistent notch, and will have some new type of biometric, rather that be touch ID and face ID, one or the other, or something completely different.
Oh, and by the time that 5G is actually useful, carriers will already start advertising 6G.
The point is, if you’re buying the iPhone 12 just for 5G, maybe... just don’t
 
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I doubt it won't be supported, quite possibly via an update, considering that they have supported 700MHz bands for the US and Asia-Pac for years now.
 
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