Mystery Patch on Edge of iPhone 12 is a mmWave 5G Antenna Exclusive to U.S. Models

[ian87w]

Why do you say that?

Outside the US, prices of iPhones are already higher by 20-45% right off the gate. Now with less accessories and the tent pole feature of 5G not being available in many markets anyway, it's like paying even more for less.

I mean Apple even take out the earpods and chargers for the iPhones in the emerging markets, where many of their customers are actually new users.

 

[C DM]

Zero reason to buy this phone for anyone outside the US. Which is why AAPL went down 3%

Doesn't seem like either one of those things is necessarily the case.

 

[haunebu]

I know mmWave networks are still early in their deployment everywhere, but does this mean no iPhone 12 sold outside of the US will support mmWave, ever?

As a Verizon customer, I look forward to 4 Gbps download speeds on an iPhone, even if coverage is super limited. That will be quite a thing to experience.

 

[ian87w]

I know mmWave networks are still early in their deployment everywhere, but does this mean no iPhone 12 sold outside of the US will support mmWave, ever?

As a Verizon customer, I look forward to 4 Gbps download speeds on an iPhone, even if coverage is super limited. That will be quite a thing to experience.

No holes for the antenna, no mmWave.
Many countries with 5G outside the US focus more on low band 5G, so it probably won't matter. If there are more mmWave networks in the future, Apple will probably make it standard on all iPhones around the world.

It just like the early days of LTE. The iPhone 5 only supports LTE in the US (I think).

 

[farewelwilliams]

As great as the iPhone 4 was that was not an overreaction, the first thing I did was make a phone call launch day before it was a known issue and I was wondering why I was dropping calls where my 3GS has no problem.

certainly a reaction is warranted. i'm saying it was an overreaction.

 

[ipedro]

Is the iPhone 12 mini really that small or are those just big hands?

In the ad they used a comically large man to hold the iPhone mini.

Measuring it up against an iPhone 4 that I had laying around, it’s not really as small.

 

[rochford]

The virtual iPhone on the Apple web site has the patch no matter what country you’re in (well at least the Australian site does so assume elsewhere).

 

[loll]

Is it not normal to hold the phone with your hand?... I’m scared to ask what you use to hold your phone.... 😬

 

[H2SO4]

Funny that nobody is telling us how ridiculous it is to introduce a 5G phone like they did with competitor models. I'd rather have it than not even if reception is spotty, I can always switch momentarily to 4G if needed.

 

[ian87w]

certainly a reaction is warranted. i'm saying it was an overreaction.

Well, over reaction or not, it was a real issue. And Jobs knew about it beforehand as the Apple engineers told him about the problem with the design. But Jobs sided with Ive and green lighted the flawed design anyway. It's all now well documented even in Job's own biography.

So waiting if Tim Cook will do a special keynote saying how other 5G phones have the same issue, how people are holding it wrong, and how all iPhone 12 US buyers will get a free case...

 

[farewelwilliams]

Well, over reaction or not, it was a real issue. And Jobs knew about it beforehand as the Apple engineers told him about the problem with the design. But Apple sided with Ive and green lighted the flawed design anyway. It's all now well documented even in Job's own biography.

So waiting if Tim Cook will do a special keynote saying how other 5G phones have the same issue, how people are holding it wrong, and how all iPhone 12 US buyers will get a free case...

Sure, I'm not saying the issue didn't exist. Steve even showed a slide where consumer reports said the bumper fixes the issue.

However, the reaction is overblown considering other phones had the same issue and didn't even offer free bumpers, free cases, or a partial refund.

 

[Maconplasma]

Hilarious how some here living outside the U.S are acting immature about a feature dedicated to U.S. customers that will be very limited in availability. SMH

 

[merrickdrfc]

Hilarious how some here living outside the U.S are acting immature about a feature dedicated to U.S. customers that will be very limited in availability. SMH

Can you dare to imagine the reaction if this was reversed though - European iPhones having a technology/feature that the U.S. model didn't and Apple charging the 'same' amount of money? 😱

 

[Maconplasma]

Can you dare to imagine the reaction if this was reversed though - European iPhones having a technology/feature that the U.S. model didn't and Apple charging the 'same' amount of money? 😱

Oh please spare me. There are so many things that other countries get when it comes to tech that leave the U.S out in the cold. And secondly, Apple being a U.S. company automatically makes your "point" null and void.

 

[eulslix]

Hilarious how some here living outside the U.S are acting immature about a feature dedicated to U.S. customers that will be very limited in availability. SMH

We’re paying the same price for less, as if the rest of the world was underdeveloped, not worthy of getting this feature 🙃

 

[Maconplasma]

We’re paying the same price for less, as if the rest of the world was underdeveloped, not worthy of getting this feature 🙃

Oh cry me a river. Microsoft (a U.S Company) charges Mac customers in the U.S 100% the same price for Office 365 as the Windows customers, yet the Windows customers get a version with 2 extra applications and a more robust version of Excel. Why the frick should Mac users pay the same price for less and in the same country?

 

[ian87w]

wrong post, delted

 

[eulslix]

Oh cry me a river. Microsoft (a U.S Company) charges Mac customers in the U.S 100% the same price for Office 365 as the Windows customers, yet the Windows customers get a version with 2 extra applications and a more robust version of Excel. Why the frick should Mac users pay the same price for less and in the same country?

That’s platform politics, Microsoft wants to push its own ecosystem, and everyone has an easy choice to make. Discrimination based on the country though, that’s another topic. Especially, after making exactly that feature the cornerstone of the whole keynote (High Speed).
But at that point, with Apple’s minuscule efforts in adopting Apple Maps to the rest of the world, I guess I’m not surprised anymore.

 

[Maconplasma]

That’s platform politics, Microsoft wants to push its own ecosystem, and everyone has an easy choice to make. Discrimination based on the country though, that’s another topic. Especially, after making exactly that feature the cornerstone of the whole keynote (High Speed).

I just love how you excuse Microsoft and blame the Mac customers for burning themselves if they make the MS Office purchase, (that they may not have a choice based on their business life), then say Apple is discriminating against you. That's rich! This type of response doesn't surprise me on this forum.

 

[simonmet]

They spent an awful lot of the presentation hyping up the benefits of mmWave 5G, only to what...offer it solely in the US?

I don’t understand why it’s even worth their effort to manufacture different models with different antenna capabilities for different markets. Never have. Just make a universal model for ****s sake.

 

[Maconplasma]

They spent an awful lot of the presentation hyping up the benefits of mmWave 5G, only to what...offer it solely in the US?

I don’t understand why it’s even worth their effort to manufacture different models with different antenna capabilities for different markets. Never have. Just make a universal model for f***s sake.

Did it ever occur to you that feature may not be available in your country? That it's not Apple in general that chose not to offer it to other countries? If it's only available in the U.S. that doesn't mean Apple shouldn't offer to their U.S. customers. They should.

 

[ian87w]

They spent an awful lot of the presentation hyping up the benefits of mmWave 5G, only to what...offer it solely in the US?

I don’t understand why it’s even worth their effort to manufacture different models with different antenna capabilities for different markets. Never have. Just make a universal model for f***s sake.

They got subsidies from Verizon/AT&T , as shown by the $30 discount. Obviously there’s a financial incentive. Heck, almost a quarter of the keynote was advertisement for Verizon.

Having said that, this is normal in the early days of a new cellular technology. Back on the iPhone 5, the first iPhone LTE, it was mainly for US carriers. It’s not until the iPhone 6 or so where the modem technology caught up to have a universal model.

 

[noSpeed]

Yep, that’s why I’m skipping iPhone 12. Maybe TouchID will make a return next year. As good as FaceID is, I really miss it.

I really miss touch ID now that we're wearing masks all the time.

 

[ani4ani]

Sure, I'm not saying the issue didn't exist. Steve even showed a slide where consumer reports said the bumper fixes the issue.

However, the reaction is overblown considering other phones had the same issue and didn't even offer free bumpers, free cases, or a partial refund.

The other phones didn’t have the same issue; yes, their signal was impacted by holding the phone unnaturally (as apposed to naturally with iPhone), but not to the extent they dropped calls. That keynote was a low point for Apple, trying to explain a mistake (known before launch) by trying to rubbish others.

 

[rkuo]

It's gonna bend there guys.