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iPhone 6 LTE Bands

nateo200

nateo200

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Feb 4, 2009
2,920
52
Upstate NY
In addition to the bands listed below do you think Apple is going to add more critical bands like Band 12, Band 28, Band 41, etc. to any of the models? Will the iPhone 6 / 6 Plus be even more universal in terms of Apple maybe only having one or two models for the world? I certainly hope so, while I don't need Band 28 or Band 41 its a nice thing to have for future proof and global roaming as well as resale value.

So feel free to speculate and post sources...its almost impossible to see the live feed from Apple and so many related sites are just straight up crashed... :O


Verizon/AT&T/T-Mobile iPhone 5S/C supports:

LTE Frequencies:

1 - 2100MHz (IMT)
2 - 1900MHz (PCS)
3 - 1800MHz (DCS)
4 - 1700MHz (AWS)
5 - 850MHz (CLR)
8 - 900MHz (E-GSM)
13 - 700MHz (Block C)
17 - 700MHz (Block B)
19 - 800MHz
20 - 800MHz (EU Digital Dividend)
25 - 1900MHz (E-PCS)
(Sprint model adds Band 18 and Band 26)

iPhone 5S/C for Asia supports

LTE Frequencies

1 - 2100MHz
2 - 1900MHz
3 - 1800MHz
5 - 850MHz
7 - 2600MHz
8 - 900MHz
20 - 800MHz
38 - 2600MHz TDD
39 - 1900MHz TDD
40 - 2300MHz TDD
 
Hopefully Band 12 is included. T-mobile and some regional carriers will be utilizing LTE on this band soon and there will likely be some roaming agreements for it as well.
 
CEmajr said:
Hopefully Band 12 is included. T-mobile and some regional carriers will be utilizing LTE on this band soon and there will likely be some roaming agreements for it as well.
Click to expand...
I'm assuming Band 12 will be present which is great because once T-Mobile expands a bit more I'm definitely looking to jump ship.
BuckyLastard said:
Will the LTE bands be compatible in US and UK ?
Click to expand...

Yup. 5S already supports UK and EU bands just not the 2600MHz band but in the UK the 5S supports at least 1 or two bands for EE, Vodafone, etc. Band 28 is mostly for Asia right now and Europe in the future.
 
They need to add band 7 to the US model so that folks who travel to Europe frequently can take advantage.
 
nateo200 said:
I'm assuming Band 12 will be present which is great because once T-Mobile expands a bit more I'm definitely looking to jump ship.


Yup. 5S already supports UK and EU bands just not the 2600MHz band but in the UK the 5S supports at least 1 or two bands for EE, Vodafone, etc. Band 28 is mostly for Asia right now and Europe in the future.
Click to expand...

So that means with an iphone 6 i buy in the US i will be able to use the LTE / 4g in both countries ( UK / USA) ?

At the moment with my iphone 5s bought in UK, its not compatible with US LTE
 
CEmajr said:
Hopefully Band 12 is included. T-mobile and some regional carriers will be utilizing LTE on this band soon and there will likely be some roaming agreements for it as well.
Click to expand...

No band 12:

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

AT&T and Verizon continue to screw over everyone else. I'm honestly shocked - with so many worthless bands on the American version you think they could have included it.

In fact the international version has 4 more bands then the US model. Crappy all around.
 
Guessing the new iPhone will have all 17 bands currently on the 2 iPad Air models. I think it's probably safe to assume 12 will be among the 3 extra LTE bands that will be supported. I stand corrected.

Looks like only the non-US version has 20 LTE bands. Counted only 16 for US. Not sure what countries use bands 38, 39, 40 & 41. China, maybe?
 
Last edited:
rui no onna said:
Guessing the new iPhone will have all 17 bands currently on the 2 iPad Air models. I think it's probably safe to assume 12 will be among the 3 extra LTE bands that will be supported. I stand corrected.

Looks like only the non-US version has 20 LTE bands. Counted only 16 for US. Not sure what countries use bands 38, 39, 40 & 41. China, maybe?
Click to expand...

25,26, and 41 are for Sprint's LTE network Spark. 29 is present for a network AT&T hasn't even deployed yet.
 
Would it be possible to pre-order a contract free Sprint model? In order to buy it in the US and use it everywhere in the world.
 
Diode said:
No band 12:

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

AT&T and Verizon continue to screw over everyone else. I'm honestly shocked - with so many worthless bands on the American version you think they could have included it.

In fact the international version has 4 more bands then the US model. Crappy all around.
Click to expand...
See my rant at the bottom of my post

rui no onna said:
Guessing the new iPhone will have all 17 bands currently on the 2 iPad Air models. I think it's probably safe to assume 12 will be among the 3 extra LTE bands that will be supported. I stand corrected.

Looks like only the non-US version has 20 LTE bands. Counted only 16 for US. Not sure what countries use bands 38, 39, 40 & 41. China, maybe?
Click to expand...
Band 38, 39, 40, and 41 are used by China but also in other parts of the world, Sprint uses Band 41 2500MHz and Band 40 is also going to become very popular in Australia, India, and all over asia. Check this page out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-UTRA#Frequency_bands_and_channel_bandwidths you'll see all the Band numbers and the tech specs along with where they are used. and you can use this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LTE_networks to learn which carriers use which frequency bands worldwide
BuckyLastard said:
So that means with an iphone 6 i buy in the US i will be able to use the LTE / 4g in both countries ( UK / USA) ?

At the moment with my iphone 5s bought in UK, its not compatible with US LTE
Click to expand...
See my reply above^^^^ use the links I posted if need be.


Diode said:
25,26, and 41 are for Sprint's LTE network Spark. 29 is present for a network AT&T hasn't even deployed yet.
Click to expand...

Band 29 is going to be AT&T's supplimental downlink channel for carrier aggregation, its incredibly frustrating that Apple would add band 29 essentially a non-essetial band given AT&T has sufficient spectrum in other bands to deploy LTE, sure they dont have 700 everywhere like Verizon but Band 29 is so exclusive where as Band 12 is vital for all these other carriers....Its almost aggravating. I'm happy they added Band 28 but really they snubbed T-Mobile and every other carrier that is working hard to make an LTE network. Side note: I would have liked some Band 41 and Band 40 love on the Verizon version, TD-LTE is going to be huge, I'll definitely be interested in an unlocked international verison if I can run it on AT&T/T-Mobile which it looks like I will be able to minus the Band 12 snub :mad:
 
Last edited:
Truefan31 said:
Kinda surprised band 12 isn't there. Will it be there in the future?
Click to expand...

Technically Band 17 is a subset of Band 12....all thats needed for Band 12 is to modify the filters put in place and it'll be able to support band 12. The filters are there to block out TV channel 51 from interfering with the phone but TV on Channel 51 is going to be shut down when T-Mobile launches 700MHz Band 12 so it won't matter. Maybe Apple will surprise us with a firmware update and say it was there the whole time...who knows...
 
catalyst6 said:
Band 7 is there in the US version, I guess I got my wish.

:cool:
Click to expand...
I wanted Band 7 on my 5c :/ only reason I want the new model is for the increased LTE band support, oh and that great look (IMO). Oh well Band 3 (1800) and Band 20 (800) are still pretty good for LTE coverage in Europe.

hohohong said:
Seems like model A1524 has all the bands that's included in the GSM version.

So, Sprint iPhone 6+ is truly a world phone?

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

Yeah the Sprint or Europe-Asia model is where its at. Even last year the Sprint version had the most bands (but lacked TD-LTE) I would try and buy the international version unlocked from another country since Sprint is going to lock it even if thats going to be banned in 2015. I'd say buy from Germany or something where its common to have unlocked phones but you might have issues with out of country warranty's....I don't get why Apple doesn't let you choose which unlocked model you want to buy...a bit restrictive....
 
US cellular and C Spire phones are international version. Check Apple's site or check in the iOS Apple store app. It's in there.
 
nateo200 said:
I don't get why Apple doesn't let you choose which unlocked model you want to buy...a bit restrictive....
Click to expand...
To be honest, I don't understand why Apple even bothered with the A1522 model. Wouldn't it have been simpler if they just had the A1524? It has all the bands for A1522 anyway.
 
rui no onna said:
To be honest, I don't understand why Apple even bothered with the A1522 model. Wouldn't it have been simpler if they just had the A1524? It has all the bands for A1522 anyway.
Click to expand...

Sprint and Verizon only allow phones branded by themselves on their network. It's a BS policy that should be banned by the FCC but that will never happen.
 
Diode said:
Sprint and Verizon only allow phones branded by themselves on their network. It's a BS policy that should be banned by the FCC but that will never happen.
Click to expand...
I know but in the past, there was just one CDMA model for Sprint/Verizon and a GSM model for AT&T. I can't think of a single technical reason as for why they didn't just use the same A1524 model for all 4 major carriers in the US (asinine device whitelisting policies notwithstanding).
 
rui no onna said:
I know but in the past, there was just one CDMA model for Sprint/Verizon and a GSM model for AT&T. I can't think of a single technical reason as for why they didn't just use the same A1524 model for all 4 major carriers in the US (asinine device whitelisting policies notwithstanding).
Click to expand...

Good question as there are two sub models of the Model A1549 - GSM and CDMA (Same with the Plus's A1522). Curious why the A1586 is not broken into the same - GSM/CDMA.
 
rui no onna said:
To be honest, I don't understand why Apple even bothered with the A1522 model. Wouldn't it have been simpler if they just had the A1524? It has all the bands for A1522 anyway.
Click to expand...

This is what I thought initially and then I back tracked a little bit and thought about it over night and it seams like it would be easy to pack everything thing in one model....iPad has every FDD LTE band and I assume the new iPad will have every FDD LTE Band plus all the TD-LTE bands of the new iPhone 6.......anyways when its time for an upgrade or I decide I need the 6 I guess I'll be buying from Hong Kong! I just hope the prices are resonable or if its even possible to buy overseas at a reasonable rate. Sounds silly but if I'm spending the money I want the model that has the broadest support and gets my money's worth!
 
rui no onna said:
To be honest, I don't understand why Apple even bothered with the A1522 model. Wouldn't it have been simpler if they just had the A1524? It has all the bands for A1522 anyway.
Click to expand...

I don't get it either. Only thing I can think of is that supporting the TD bands costs them slightly more (licensing or something?).

I guess wishful thinking could be that A1522 does actually have Band 12 (while A1524 doesn't), and Apple hasn't activated it yet
 
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