Can someone explain why Apple still bothers to manufacture A1905/A1897 that are identical to the other two phones, but without CDMA support? Why not just make one phone, then use carrier locking? Are the GSM-only phones that much cheaper to make?
Apple's iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X are not compatible with LTE Band 71, aka T-Mobile's new 600 MHz spectrum the company plans on rolling out in the United States as soon as this year.
All new iPhone models in the United States support FDD-LTE Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, and 66, and TD-LTE bands 4, 38, 39, 40, and 41, according to the Tech Specs page for the devices.
Support for additional bands can't be added retroactively, so Apple's devices will not work with LTE Band 71 until support is added to future iPhones.
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T-Mobile purchased the 600 MHz spectrum in an FCC auction in April of 2017. Shortly after, T-Mobile announced plans to use the spectrum to deliver 5G coverage starting in 2019, but later said it would use the spectrum to improve its network in rural America starting this year.
Unfortunately, by the time T-Mobile purchased the spectrum and announced plans for rapid implementation, the LTE chips and the hardware for the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X were likely already secured, giving Apple no time to build in support for a newly announced LTE band.
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T-Mobile in August activated the first 600 MHz LTE site in Cheyenne, Wyoming and has said it will deploy the spectrum at a "record-shattering pace" with plans to roll out 600 MHz sites in Wyoming, Northwest Oregon, West Texas, Southwest Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, Western North Dakota, Maine, Coastal North Carolina, Central Pennsylvania, Central Virginia, and Eastern Washington, but whether T-Mobile will hit that goal and get 600 MHz support in those locations by the end of 2017 remains to be seen.
As Peter Cohen points out, deploying the 600 MHz network is a complicated, time-consuming process that will span several years, so most iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X users won't be heavily affected by the lack of support for the new LTE band at this time.T-Mobile says Band 71 adds increased building penetration and covers greater distances. When used in metro areas, it improves in-building coverage, and in rural areas, it improves the company's LTE footprint.
There are no existing devices that support T-Mobile's new spectrum at this time. Like Apple's newest devices, for example, Samsung's Galaxy S8 and new Galaxy Note 8 do not offer support. T-Mobile has said that LG and Samsung will launch devices compatible with the spectrum by the end of the year, and LG's upcoming LG V30 will be one of the first devices to support it.
Article Link: iPhone 8 and iPhone X Don't Support T-Mobile's Upcoming 600 MHz LTE Network
Qualcomm X16 modem (released in 2016) supports it.No modems support band 71/600MHz. The iPhone X was designed at least 8 months ago, this is not Apple's fault.
Can someone explain why Apple still bothers to manufacture A1905/A1897 that are identical to the other two phones, but without CDMA support? Why not just make one phone, then use carrier locking? Are the GSM-only phones that much cheaper to make?
Qualcomm X16 modem (released in 2016) supports it.
Apple is in a fight with Qualcomm, so that would probably explain why the new iPhones don't have a compatible modem for it.
Samsung uses the X16, but for some reason decided not to enable Band 71.
"T-Mobile says Band 71 adds increased building penetration and covers greater distances."
Hmmmmmm...anyone qualified to weigh in on the health implications of this? Nikola Tesla, perhaps?
If I had ordered a new phone, this would be cause for me to immediately cancel the order.
This is very short-sighted by Apple. I understand that TMo didn't win the spectrum until earlier this year but the fact was that SOMEONE was going to win the auctions and it was going to be rolled out. It should have been built in.
I suspect we're going to get a slight revision to the 8/8+/X early next year that adds that band.
The problem is as always the assumption of intentionality behind everything, in particular if it affects the speaker. That nothing 'bad' happens without some 'malevolent' intent somewhere. And I have no idea how to fight this state of mind.Anyone working in mobile phone development facepalms heavily whenever that kind of conspiracy nonsense is spread by people who think that you just need to wave a magic wand to implement a major feature in a new product and that the lack of such a feature implies that it is being purposefully withheld.
dude...Ha, no... It was short-sighted by T-Mobile announcing their plans mid-2017 and expecting Apple to turn on a dime after their design (and their supplier's components) locked down.
The only difference being that people didn't normally carried or held close to their body TV transmitters.Same health implications than TV transmission have had for decades. None.
Band 71 is over-the-air TV spectrum that's being reallocated for LTE use. If anything LTE radio signals will be of much less power than VHF/UHF TV transmissions were.
I suspect we're going to get a slight revision to the 8/8+/X early next year that adds that band.
Have they ever done that in the middle of the year before? (I'm thinking no, but curious!)