One thing to consider is HD voice / carrier interoperability. I tried T-Mobile a few months ago and there is no HD voice interoperability with Verizon users. It worked most of the time with AT&T users. Having been a longtime Verizon customer I noticed the issue immediately and ported out the next day. Unacceptable to me in 2020 / 2021. If you use your phone for voice calls it'll be a downgrade, depending on carriers your friends / family use.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone 12 Pro Max T-mobile or Verizon
- Thread starter shady16
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Funny you mention that. I can't remember the last time I called a friend or family member using a cellular "voice" call. Mostly, I'm calling them on Facetime/Factime Audio, WhatsApp, or Signal. Honestly on iOS these options show in my recent call log, so clicking the contact just calls them that way. I'm sure cellular HD voice is nice, but it seems a bit late to the party to be relevant if you ask me.
For a lot of people, your scenario is correct. However, there are still many people that do not use those technologies for making voice calls. I've experienced the terrible voice quality calling one of my friends who is on T-Mobile. For whatever reason HD voice is not compatible between AT&T (my carrier) and T-Mobile. Verizon works flawlessly between AT&T on HD voice calls.
And I can't remember the last time I made a voice call using anything but the default "phone" app. Here in the U.S. everyone with an iPhone uses iMessage. Everyone I know can't be bothered to "hey, try calling me with FT Audio, send me a message through WhatsApp." It's either iMessage or default SMS on Android for the vast majority. I wish it wasn't so. I'm on my phone several hours out of the day calling clients etc., HD voice is much appreciated and a must-have feature.
Switched to TMobile - better prices and works great. I expect them to continue to grow with the Sprint merger.
I'm in the US as well. Not trying to invalidate your experience, just saying mine is different.
I don't need to "tell" someone I'm going to call them on FT audio. I just dial them on FT audio, their phone rings, they pick up. 99% of the time they aren't even aware the call went over data. That is the beauty of Apple's callkit.
As for clients, I generally schedule calls with clients on MS Teams or Zoom or Google Meet and similar tools... it is rare I pick up a phone anymore. But that is just my experience... your mileage may vary as you've noted.
I've been carrier shopping this year (becasue of limited travel I wanted something in addition to my usual Google FI that I LOVE for international).
I tried AT&T Postpaid, Verizon Postpaid, T-Mobile Postpaid, Visible (Verizon MVNO). They all had their pluses and minused, but I can't say I ever noticed the HD voice feature kicking in between carriers. Then again most people I "called" using the phone dialer to test the carrier quality are on T-Mobile which could be the issue.
For me fast data throughput is the #1 most important thing. Having working data when my ISP craps out is critical to me. Turns out at my house AT&T has the best data throughput, BUUT not better enough to justify the higher prices they charge and all the taxes + fees etc.
Visible and Verizon Postpaid were near indistinguishable in my area (not congested). Currently I'm still playing with the idea of getting an eSim MVNO provider (like Visible) as a "backup" to my primary provider in the dual-sim mode giving me kindof a best of both worlds at a reasonable price. Before I got my apple watch, I was running Google FI and Visible in a dual-sim mode and that was great actually.
This is pretty much what I am doing.
I've been a T-Mobile customer since 2008, but I finally got tired of spotty coverage in a lot of places I went. Switched to Verizon, but am keeping a $15/mo T-Mobile prepaid 2GB plan around with my eSIM, just in case anything goes wrong.
Verizon has mediocre coverage at my house, but everywhere else I go it has been far superior to T-Mobile. The difference between no service and full LTE.
Verizon for me in my area. Have had T mobile work phones and never had the same coverage or sound compared to Verizon. No longer have work phones, but the latest experience with t mobile is less than 2 years old.
Staying with Verizon as have been with them for 20+ years and when I return to office work location hopefully soon, it will be in VZW 5G UW coverage (Downtown Hartford). Also, have substantial Verizon discount.
Verizon experience hadn’t always been perfect, but no real complaints that can stick with my memory to affect past, present, or future purchases. I’m well aware that others have had major and substantiated gripes with them. But that really applies to all carriers.
Now only if I could get FiOS.....
Staying with Verizon as have been with them for 20+ years and when I return to office work location hopefully soon, it will be in VZW 5G UW coverage (Downtown Hartford). Also, have substantial Verizon discount.
Verizon experience hadn’t always been perfect, but no real complaints that can stick with my memory to affect past, present, or future purchases. I’m well aware that others have had major and substantiated gripes with them. But that really applies to all carriers.
Now only if I could get FiOS.....
For me, where I live and work, Verizon has the best coverage. And it's really about getting the best coverage. In a major metropolitan city, I suppose all the majors are good. But stray from the big cities and the differences become apparent.
A cheaper plan is no bargain when it comes with diminished service.
A cheaper plan is no bargain when it comes with diminished service.
T-Mobile bought Sprint for the spectrum. Tons and tons of it. T-Mobile going forward has almost as much spectrum as AT&T and Verizon combined, and most of it is in the sweet spot for high-speed urban 5G deployment. Sprint just didn't really have the money to actually, you know, build towers, especially not after Softbank borrowed money to buy Sprint out. Dish has the money but seems to be content to lease its spectrum out to other carriers.
If you are in an area with good T-Mobile coverage their plans are excellent. The value proposition for a single line is pretty good ($70 taxes incl), but if you can take advantage of their multi line discounts its really a great deal (ie 4 lines for $120). They have really great international travel features included, in flight wifi included, fast speeds, include Netflix, and a lot of low and mid band 5G spectrum. I have also found their customer service to be good.
The main advantage of Verizon is that they tend to have better coverage in rural areas. They tend to nickel and dime you for international data roaming, texting, etc whereas T-Mobile includes it. Their plans are on average more expensive than both T-Mobile and ATT. But if you frequent areas where there is little cell coverage, there is more likely to be Verizon coverage so it kind of makes the decision for you. It seems that their mmWave 5G is pretty useless at the moment, but maybe in the future they will have more normal 5G.
I live in a medium size town and I routinely and consistently get 50-100Mb speeds on an old iPhone 6s on T-Mobile. My SO has Verizon and has similar speeds on their iPhone X. We have extended family on Visible (a Verizon MVNO) and their speeds are much more inconsistent. They can get similarly fast, but when the Verizon towers get congested the "real" Verizon customers get priority and the Visible speeds drop to 10Mb or lower, sometimes 2-5Mb. It is a good deal, at $25 a line with multiple lines though and you get the Verizon network footprint.
The main advantage of Verizon is that they tend to have better coverage in rural areas. They tend to nickel and dime you for international data roaming, texting, etc whereas T-Mobile includes it. Their plans are on average more expensive than both T-Mobile and ATT. But if you frequent areas where there is little cell coverage, there is more likely to be Verizon coverage so it kind of makes the decision for you. It seems that their mmWave 5G is pretty useless at the moment, but maybe in the future they will have more normal 5G.
I live in a medium size town and I routinely and consistently get 50-100Mb speeds on an old iPhone 6s on T-Mobile. My SO has Verizon and has similar speeds on their iPhone X. We have extended family on Visible (a Verizon MVNO) and their speeds are much more inconsistent. They can get similarly fast, but when the Verizon towers get congested the "real" Verizon customers get priority and the Visible speeds drop to 10Mb or lower, sometimes 2-5Mb. It is a good deal, at $25 a line with multiple lines though and you get the Verizon network footprint.
Last edited:
One thing I've noticed since the iPhone 12 release. Verizon's LTE network seems to have gotten slower at my workplace when they used to be the best. Meanwhile, T-Mobile's network has improved a lot.
I do wonder if Verizon switched some of their LTE spectrum to 5G. Sadly, I'm unable to test Verizon 5G speeds. I'm on an old shared data plan with employer discount and the new 5G unlimited plans are more expensive in my case. Doesn't seem worth it to switch if 5G's just the same speed.
I noticed the same thing about Verizon Wireless when I tried them again a few months ago. Sucks.
What would be really cool if a provider guaranteed like 10 Mbps to 25 Mbps minimum 24/7 anywhere they have coverage!
I know that will never happen though.
I noticed the same thing about Verizon Wireless when I tried them again a few months ago. Sucks.
What would be really cool if a provider guaranteed like 10 Mbps to 25 Mbps minimum 24/7 anywhere they have coverage!
I know that will never happen though.
I pulled the trigger and upgraded to a Do More Unlimited 5G UW plan. Apparently, there isn't really anything wrong with their LTE speeds. Verizon was just deprioritizing my old grandfathered shared data postpaid plan.
I did have to open another checking account to get the autopay discount. Too many horror stories of getting money back quickly in case of debit card fraud so I didn't want to risk my primary checking account.
I have an amazing plan with Verizon. It is called the 55plus unlimited everything. It is so affordable.
You're missing some of the perks on the T-Mobile side. Netflix being one of them. Also, taxes and fees on VZW are dynamic and they are whatever as months go by, T-Mobile they are included and they never change.
As for the topic at hand it all comes down to your area. Test accordingly. Poll friends and neighbors, screw it. Where I live VZW is not even usable ... I tried twice fairly recently. T-Mobile's customer service is really great and in my in experience, the rest pales in comparison. And yes I tried ATT as well.
Also, consider where all these companies may be as far network in the next couple of years. VZW won big at the recent spectrum auction, but with the Sprint acquisition, and some licenses at the recent spectrum auction TMO is holding more spectrum then all of them.
I'm no longer with Verizon. I'm with its subsidiary--Visible. I pay $25 monthly with Party Pay and get unlimited everything.
I agree that each carrier has different coverage in each area. You just have to test and compare to find the best price/performance ratio for you.
So far, I'm pretty happy with Visible's coverage in my neck of the woods. There are NO incentives for me to try/test other carriers.
To everyone reading this forum: if you have good Verizon coverage in your neck of the woods, and you don't need super fast internet, give Visible a try. It uses Verizon's network, and is super cheap. $25 a month with Party Pay. (Party Pay is a group of Visible users. If the group you belong to has 4 people or more, your monthly payment is only $25.)
I had Verizon for many years before getting married and having kids turning me into a family plan. After upgrading everyone to unlimited and getting new phones my bill was over 300. No big deal until we started having speed issues. Eventually called to find out why and was told we had unlimited but not priority. Would of cost another 10 per line to upgrade. Looked into T-Mobile and discovered a first responder plan. They paid off my three phones and set me up with a four line plan which added another line for my daughter and my cellular watch for $110 a month taxes and fees included. Haven’t noticed any difference in coverage and have 50gb priority data per line. Could t ask for more and have been more than pleased with the change.