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No surcharge, but if you want to use the latest mmWave 5G frequencies, you will have to get a $10 R15 SIM card.

Otherwise the one that is coming in the new 12 will have the low and mid band 5G SIM card.

Not really worth it now as mmWave 5G is not really available except for some major cities.

I prefer the mid and low band 5G for it's ability to go thru walls.
The very high mmWave is in the microwave region and won't penetrate walls very well...
 
What about older SIM cards? I planned on using the one that is in my iPhone 11PM.
You should call T Mobile and find out if your old SIM supports Low-Mid (Sub 6) 5G.

I do know that the latest optional SIM you can order from T Mobile (R15) will do the mm Wave 24-28Ghz super high speed, but it depends on:
1. Physical location of mm wave tower(s).
2. Distance from the tower.
3. Any obstructions between you and the tower.
4. Setting the iPhone 12's 5G vs 5G Automatic vs LTE....

I think for awhile until T Mobile installs more micro sized towers in your area, most of us will probably only see modest gains in speed.

Only if you park yourself next to one of these new mm wave towers - can 1000Mbps + will ever be seen:
https://www.wsj.com/video/series/jo...-that-is/7F63C2CF-6425-4307-B078-5D9C05CFC9C9
 
How would we even know if T-Mobile offers mmwave in our area? All I can find in their coverage map is general 5G, ie sub 6.
 
I called the T Mobile expert and all he said was that 5G is available in my area but precise tower locations are not disclosed.

He said 5G (sub 6) will be most common and that they are constantly working on new mm Wave towers in my area (Los Angeles County).

He agreed that until more mm Wave towers are up, to use the old SIM and not pay the $10 for the R15 SIM.
 
No surcharge, but if you want to use the latest mmWave 5G frequencies, you will have to get a $10 R15 SIM card.

Otherwise the one that is coming in the new 12 will have the low and mid band 5G SIM card.

Not really worth it now as mmWave 5G is not really available except for some major cities.

I prefer the mid and low band 5G for it's ability to go thru walls.
The very high mmWave is in the microwave region and won't penetrate walls very well...

——————————————-

It’s not my intention to challenge you, but are you saying that a T-Mobile iPhone ordered from Apple will not have the latest SIM (R15) pre-installed? Has this issue been documented anywhere?
 
——————————————-

It’s not my intention to challenge you, but are you saying that a T-Mobile iPhone ordered from Apple will not have the latest SIM (R15) pre-installed? Has this issue been documented anywhere?
Yes, you can contact another MacRumors member: @nateatlarge who had to undergo the extra expense in obtaining an R15 SIM chip from T-Mobile.

Since I don't need to be sitting next to a mm Wave tower for any intensive phone use so I will be happy with sub 6 5G bands in the meantime which means I am happy with whatever SIM that comes with the phone I ordered.

If I needed gigabit speeds, I'll connect my Mac Mini to 10GBpsE port on my work's 10GB network....
 
Will the R15 SIM support sub 6 bands as well or strictly mmwave?
From what I understand, the T Mobile R15 SIM is an updated chip to allow access to both LTE, 5G (Sub 6 and mm Wave).

I understand ATT and VZW are doing something similar by charging extra ???
 
No one knows if an R15 chip would come with the iPhone. Since no one has the phone yet.

It doesn’t make sense to have another sim version tbh
 
I called the T Mobile expert and all he said was that 5G is available in my area but precise tower locations are not disclosed.

He said 5G (sub 6) will be most common and that they are constantly working on new mm Wave towers in my area (Los Angeles County).

He agreed that until more mm Wave towers are up, to use the old SIM and not pay the $10 for the R15 SIM.
Cell tower locations are not really a secret anymore. You can check you area for carriers here:
 
Yes, you can contact another MacRumors member: @nateatlarge who had to undergo the extra expense in obtaining an R15 SIM chip from T-Mobile.

Since I don't need to be sitting next to a mm Wave tower for any intensive phone use so I will be happy with sub 6 5G bands in the meantime which means I am happy with whatever SIM that comes with the phone I ordered.

If I needed gigabit speeds, I'll connect my Mac Mini to 10GBpsE port on my work's 10GB network....

—————


I searched the thread and found the following:


nateatlarge said:
If you ordered a "SIM" free iPhone then you will need to get a new sim card. If you have an old iPhone 6 though iPhone 11 you will need to either use esim OR get a new sim card that is 5G compatible. That is my point behind all of this.

T-Mobile rep I had talked to said that the iPhone 12 and its variants will not ship with a sim card because they too are joining the environment friendly approach. I don't know if this is true, but who knows
The T-Mobile rep I spoke with on Thurs said that the iPhone 12 models come with a new SIM card.

'15 13" rMBP, 2.7GHz, 8GB, 256SSD; '15 27" iMac Quad Core 3.3GHz, 16GB, 1TB SSD; '09 MacMini, 2.0GHz, 4GB, 320GB HD; '15 64GB iPhone 6S+; '13 64GB LTE iPad Air; '13 32GB iPod Touch 5

Reactions:CannondaleDude and nateatlarge


it sounds like if you order a sim free phone your old sim may need to be replaced to get mm wave 5g.

if you order a t-mobile phone it will most likely come with the new (R15) sim. we’ll find out on Friday.
 

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I found out that if you ordered a carrier phone thru Apple, the physical SIM card is R15.
The other poster said he ordered a separate eSIM for the carrier phone because he wanted a separate number on the physical card.

SO unless you plan on getting an eSIM, you don't have to worry!
 
I called the T Mobile expert and all he said was that 5G is available in my area but precise tower locations are not disclosed.

He said 5G (sub 6) will be most common and that they are constantly working on new mm Wave towers in my area (Los Angeles County).

He agreed that until more mm Wave towers are up, to use the old SIM and not pay the $10 for the R15 SIM.
Cell tower locations are not really a secret anymore. You can check you area for carriers here:
I like this site. It's kind of the gold standard among people that care about cell towers and signal.

 
Here is a feel-good article about our T-Mobile 5G. It made me mad watching the reviews yesterday and them talking about 5G being non-existent because they were talking about the Apple $$$$ partner Verizon.

 
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