Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

So... I guess I have a 4G iPhone? (HSPA+)

Mad Mac Maniac

Mad Mac Maniac

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 4, 2007
4,808
2,110
A little bit of here and a little bit of there.
At CES at&t rebranded their HSPA+ network as being 4G... basically mimicking T-mo's move, because at&t didn't want to be the only major carrier without a 4G branding

Now the iPhone 4 (and iPhone 3GS I think?) are capable of reaching this higher HSPA+ speeds right? So I guess we have all been drooling over getting a 4G phone all this time, but little did we know that we already have one!! haha. This all just seems kinda silly to me.

Correct me if I'm wrong.
 
the iphone 4 does not support HSPA+. However, it's probably a safe bet to say the iphone 5 will.
 
I believe the iphone 5 that everyone is referring to will actually be called the iphone 4g and support HSPA+. I believe the rumored iphone 6 will be the iphone 5 and support LTE.
 
Here's the real question. If the 5th iteration of the iphone does support HSPA+, then will we see ATT unveil "4G" pricing? Will those of us grandfathered into unlimited plans finally be forced to switch? Something to think about.
 
afurry13 said:
Here's the real question. If the 5th iteration of the iphone does support HSPA+, then will we see ATT unveil "4G" pricing? Will those of us grandfathered into unlimited plans finally be forced to switch? Something to think about.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't put it past them.

But I don't actually think so. I think at&t will leave their pricing the same through all of 2011 and brag about how their HSPA+ 4G is faster than Verizon's 3G and in more places than Verizon's LTE 4G.

Once the iPhone gets LTE in 2012 that's when you can expect pricing to change. I bet they'll both take advantage of that opportunity when it comes.

But this year I think at&t is too afraid of Verizon to raise prices at roughly the same time Verizon is first getting the iPhone.
 
afurry13 said:
Here's the real question. If the 5th iteration of the iphone does support HSPA+, then will we see ATT unveil "4G" pricing? Will those of us grandfathered into unlimited plans finally be forced to switch? Something to think about.
Click to expand...

AT&T advertises the Atrix on their site with the current data plans. I doubt that they will change them until they get an LTE network. As long as you don't change your data plan you can keep it. For years even if I upgraded phones I was able to use a talk plan that didn't exist anymore. As long as you don't change data plans you'll be fine.
 
oh good, i hadn't realized that they were advertising the atrix with the current data plans. that's good news.
 
Because Att upgrade all their HSPA towards to HSPA+ their going to have the larges 4G network in the US.
 
HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, and iPhone 5

As I understand it, we have HSDPA/HSUPA (HSPA for short) capability with the iPhone 4 and 3GS right now. The speed tops out at 7.2 mb/s. HSPA+ is what T-Mobile is promoting right now as their "fake" 4G. It's not really 4th generation technology, but a tweaking of the current 3rd generation infrastructure to push incredibly higher speeds (upwards of 21 mb/s).

AT&T plans on rolling out their LTE (Long-Term Evolution) network in 2012. It is a true 4th-generation infrastructure. Verizon will have their LTE network up and running before AT&T, apparently this year (2011). T-Mobile does not have an LTE plan for 2012 as far as I know. Sprint rolled out their "4G" WiMax last summer with the Evo 4G, but if I am not mistaken, they scrapped their plans to develop the network, and will instead lease 4G service from either Verizon or AT&T's LTE network and mark up the subscription price $10 and pass that on to their customers. There are several class-action lawsuits popping up all over the country against Sprint from customers who were promised 4G service, and PAYING for 4G service when the 4G was not (and will not be) available.

But I digress... since T-Mobile started promoting their "fake" 4G service, I think AT&T decided that they would need to do the same to stay competitive. They rolled out an advertisement in January on the website that spoke of a transition plan to LTE. It started with current improved 3G speeds, then HSPA+, and finally LTE. You can see the advertisement here.

My best guess is that the iPhone 5 will be HSPA+ capable, and will push the 20 mb/s or faster speeds. In 2012, it will take an entirely new iPhone device to run on the LTE network for true 4G speeds. I don't think they will name the summer 2011 iPhone a "4G", because this may not leave a naming option for the device when it truly becomes an LTE 4G phone. I'm betting on iPhone 5, and creating a needed separation between the generation of the iPhone and anything to do with network speeds.

Your thoughts? Corrections? New information? Chat me up!
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Yes I believe the next iPhone will be capable of hspa+. The current iP4 runs hsdpa which can run up to 7.2. Att's network is 100% upgraded to hspa+ and they will launch LTE in select markets by May/June of this year. The backhauling should be completed before LTE launches. LTE phones for Att will come out after the middle of the year. iP6 which would next year will most likely have LTE.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back