T-Mobile 4G

[Quad 2.5 G5 =)]

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So. Excuse this thread if it's already been asked, but if the iPhone 4S/5 is going to be on T-Mobile, will it be 4G capable? T-Mobile's 4G is really more of an enhanced 3G, using the existing 1700/2100 MHz bands, thus, I think it's simply more of a firmware upgrade issue than an actual hardware issue. Thoughts, questions, comments?

 

[DESNOS]

It's likely that the next iPhone will have HSPA+ which is being marketed as 4G by some carriers. It probably won't have LTE 4G, but most people couldn't use that anyway. It may get onto T-Mobile, but personally I'd rather AT&T would buy them so that we'd get great coverage everywhere with one company, instead of bad coverage with two companies... HSPA+ is indeed just a software upgrade in most cases, which is the reason it's likely to appear in the iPhone. Most cell towers probably have it by now.

 

[Quad 2.5 G5 =)]

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I've had my iPhone on both T-Mobile and AT&T, and while the one benefit of AT&T is 3G data, I couldn't truly say I prefer one over the other, excusing the 3G, which I could truly live without, as I'm not too big of a data user.
Besides, AT&T wanted T-Mobile just so they could keep up their network infrastructure, due to all the millions of iPhones/Smartphones that are now extremely prevalent.

 

[macinnv]

Hope so. T-Mobile's HSPA+ (I like the term 3.5G) is speedy and affordable.

 

[rjohnstone]

It's a bit more than just a software upgrade.
HSPA+ requires a new radio.
The radio in the AT&T iPhone 4 only supports 7.2 Mbps HSPA.

The Verizon iPhone 4 uses the Qualcomm MDM6600 radio that supports 14.4Mbps HSPA+... problem is Apple didn't provide a SIM slot, so that makes the chipset useless for any GSM carrier.

If the iPhone 4S/5 gets the MDM8220, it "should" be able to access T-Mobile's 42Mbps HSPA+ network provided the AWS band is enabled.

Would love to see Apple throw in the MDM9600 (42Mbps HSPA+, EV-DO Rev A./B. and 100Mbps LTE)

 

[DESNOS]

It's a bit more than just a software upgrade.
HSPA+ requires a new radio.
The radio in the AT&T iPhone 4 only supports 7.2 Mbps HSPA.

The Verizon iPhone 4 uses the Qualcomm MDM6600 radio that supports 14.4Mbps HSPA+... problem is Apple didn't provide a SIM slot, so that makes the chipset useless for any GSM carrier.

If the iPhone 4S/5 gets the MDM8220, it "should" be able to access T-Mobile's 42Mbps HSPA+ network provided the AWS band is enabled.

Would love to see Apple throw in the MDM9600 (42Mbps HSPA+, EV-DO Rev A./B. and 100Mbps LTE)

I meant a software upgrade for the backend.

 

[smithrh]

I meant a software upgrade for the backend.

It's more than a software upgrade for the "backend" (infrastructure) as well.

 

[Agent-P]

I hope the iPhone 5 comes to T-Mobile and supports its HSPA+ network. That would just make me so happy. I get great T-Mobile coverage in my area and I don't have any problems with them right now, so no need to switch carriers.