iPhone 12 Pro Verizon and Apple SHAME ON YOU

[LongWayHome]

The problem is that for the non techie reader who doesn't know that 5G isn't widely available Apple's marketing makes it appear that as soon as you buy the iPhone 12 you are going to see a massive speed increase with 5G, and that just isn't the case. The splash screen on the iPhone 12 page at Apple.com shows 5G as the first major feature.

Let's be honest, Apple spent a ton of time at the Keynote talking about how fast 5G is and even had a Verizon exec on stage and talked it up. They purposely made it seem like 5G was a game changer RIGHT NOW, when it really isn't. I'm not faulting Apple for it, but no one should be surprised if/when a consumer buys this phone and complains that their phones connection is slower than it was on their previous phone.

Both Apple and the carriers are guilty of a little deception here.

 

[Smoothie]

What you need to do is stand right under a 5G cell tower. You just need to find them. It's nostalgic and allows people who never knew the fun of looking for a phone booth to experience that. And you don't have to worry about holding a germ covered receiver against your ear.

 

[Billyk711]

4 bars on 5g with Verizon and these are my results? SHAME ON YOU GUYS!

Are you serious?

 

[Supermallet]

I blame Apple for making 5G the premiere feature of this year’s phones. Every reviewer said they’re blown away when they happen to be on the right street corner to get UWB, but in virtually every other situation 5G is either no better or worse than LTE. The batteries had to be made smaller to accommodate the 5G components and the 5G modem this year isn’t as efficient as the best LTE modems so we’re taking a double hit to the battery as a result of this choice to feature 5G. It’s such a battery hog that Apple had to program the phones to use LTE except when the phone really really needs 5G. What kind of battery life would we have seen on the 12 line if they didn’t have 5G, and instead had the TOTL Qualcomm LTE modem? It would have been record breaking.

LTE is good enough for most people in most places. It’s ubiquitous and reliable enough that you really notice when you don’t have it because that’s such an outlier. And while I do think there are benefits to 5G, it’s not enough to justify this phone going to 5G this year. Maybe Tim was worried about criticism of joining the 5G bandwagon too late like they did with LTE, or maybe the carriers (Verizon) begged Apple to include 5G to promote adoption numbers, but frankly it feels like a decision made with corporate interests in mind, not consumer interests. And while I know Apple does sometimes make those “good for us, less good for you” decisions like removing the headphone jack or removing a charging brick, this feels like a “great for carriers, less good for Apple, terrible for consumers” decision so I really have to wonder how much the carriers paid Apple to make this happen.

 

[Knightimer]

When someone has a claim to make about something, (this case it’s Apples fault) they better have something to back it up or it’s just empty words. Anybody can walk up to a microphone or in this case a forum and print words, but you got to have something that actually makes sense in what you’re stating. Politicians do it all the time.

I was trying to be sarcastic! haha Yet, thanks for the response so others can see.

 

[Packers1958]

Just remember, during the Apple iPhone 12 event, Apple brought out the Verizon CEO who flaunted how great Verizon 5G would be with the iPhone 12 lineup. So yes, they both were responsible for overselling and under delivering. It was a classic example gimmick salesmanship.

 

[LongWayHome]

Here, I fixed it for you

“Verizon, SHAME ON YOU”​

Wait, I'm confused. You mean Apple wasn't aware of how bad Verizon's (and all of the other Carrier's) 5G infrastructure was when they launched the iPhone 12?

Come on, Apple is just as much to blame here as any of the carriers if people want to actually blame someone for poor 5G Coverage. Both Apple and the Carriers knew that 5G was severely lacking and yet both of them are marketing it as the must have thing for this years iPhone.

 

[ian87w]

The problem is that for the non techie reader who doesn't know that 5G isn't widely available Apple's marketing makes it appear that as soon as you buy the iPhone 12 you are going to see a massive speed increase with 5G, and that just isn't the case. The splash screen on the iPhone 12 page at Apple.com shows 5G as the first major feature.

Let's be honest, Apple spent a ton of time at the Keynote talking about how fast 5G is and even had a Verizon exec on stage and talked it up. They purposely made it seem like 5G was a game changer RIGHT NOW, when it really isn't. I'm not faulting Apple for it, but no one should be surprised if/when a consumer buys this phone and complains that their phones connection is slower than it was on their previous phone.

Both Apple and the carriers are guilty of a little deception here.

 

[Girder_Shade]

Lol anyone buying a new iPhone for 5G just got suckered. True 5G is still years away

 

[Sam in SoCal]

Lol anyone buying a new iPhone for 5G just got suckered. True 5G is still years away

I bought it for the new design and the QUALCOMM modems. I never have 5G on at all and keep it on LTE always. I found some other bonus little features such a stronger NFC(something must have been wrong with the nfc chip that I was always denied trying at my fav health food store. Now it works perfectly), stronger speakers, when I plug in my aux into the port the sound is louder at lower volumes.

 

[lordhamster]

While Apple/Verizon hyped the heck out of 5G, I was 100% cognizant of the current limitations. Honestly anyone who has watched ANY reviews of 5G Android phones should know what to expect.

Especially Verizon's 5G UW. Unless I'm on the handful of streets in downtown Cleveland that have mmWave, and am sitting outside, and am near the mini tower, and there are no obstructions of any kind... it will suck.

The best hope for 5G at the moment is T-Mo's mid-band 5G. Literally everyone on the Android Forums / Subreddits has reported that low-band 5G is only slightly better if not worse than LTE in practice.

 

[LongWayHome]

Hahahahahaahahahahaahahahahahaha.

How can anyone not say Apple is guilty here as well.

 

[PeteBurgh]

Both Apple and the carriers are guilty of a little deception here.

While Apple/Verizon hyped the heck out of 5G, I was 100% cognizant of the current limitations. Honestly anyone who has watched ANY reviews of 5G Android phones should know what to expect.

I think both of these perspectives nail it. The number of people nerdy enough to watch Apple's keynotes, but that don't read any tech sites or reviews (even in mainstream publications) is presumably quite small! But those that do fall into that odd demographic are likely to be disappointed.

 

[lordhamster]

Hahahahahaahahahahaahahahahahaha.

How can anyone not say Apple is guilty here as well.

Problem is ALL cell phone performance is highly variable. Over on Reddit I see posts every day of people asking "what carrier is best."

The answer is inevitably "it depends."

I've tested all 4 major carriers this year due to not traveling overseas due to Covid... was stuck at home since March and have been trying to find a good carrier for "backup" when my ISP goes down at home.

Around town, all carriers are excellent. I generally get ~150-280mbps download speed with ~30-50ms pings on all of them. Hell even the severely deprioritized Visible (Verizon MVNO) got me ~247down most times in my small suburb's downtown.

At my home and in my neighborhood, the situation is different. I live in a cellular black-hole. Verizon which is supposed to be "the best" in my area, fails miserably at my home. T-Mo and Sprint equally suck here. Oddly, AT&T with the worst signal in dB, has the best throughput at my house ~60-90mbps down. Vs T-Mo and Verizon at ~25mbps down.

Point is... your mileage may vary. Depending on your area, your signal, tower congestion, your carrier. Many of us will experience fantastic 5G performance/throughput with lower latency. Others will still suffer from old carrier equipment, congestion + deprioritization.

Having watched all the reviews of the Android 5G phones, I fully expect to have equal performance to what I have today if not worse in areas where low-band 5G is prevalent. But where it is in place, and the stars align, 5G will be great.

 

[4sallypat]

.....
Point is... your mileage may vary. Depending on your area, your signal, tower congestion, your carrier. Many of us will experience fantastic 5G performance/throughput with lower latency. Others will still suffer from old carrier equipment, congestion + deprioritization.

Having watched all the reviews of the Android 5G phones, I fully expect to have equal performance to what I have today if not worse in areas where low-band 5G is prevalent. But where it is in place, and the stars align, 5G will be great.

Well said!

YMMV

People are so quick to bring negativity to a new product with new hardware and technology.

Remember the old days when 4G LTE was non existent or spotty at best?

Funny how people forget the past....

FWIW my 5G is awesome - always on 5G everywhere from home to work to around town.
Thanks Apple!

 

[Nozuka]

Ever since i've seen this video last month, i have to chuckle a little bit, every time i hear "5G" somewhere.

 

[LongWayHome]

Problem is ALL cell phone performance is highly variable. Over on Reddit I see posts every day of people asking "what carrier is best."

The answer is inevitably "it depends."

I've tested all 4 major carriers this year due to not traveling overseas due to Covid... was stuck at home since March and have been trying to find a good carrier for "backup" when my ISP goes down at home.

Around town, all carriers are excellent. I generally get ~150-280mbps download speed with ~30-50ms pings on all of them. Hell even the severely deprioritized Visible (Verizon MVNO) got me ~247down most times in my small suburb's downtown.

At my home and in my neighborhood, the situation is different. I live in a cellular black-hole. Verizon which is supposed to be "the best" in my area, fails miserably at my home. T-Mo and Sprint equally suck here. Oddly, AT&T with the worst signal in dB, has the best throughput at my house ~60-90mbps down. Vs T-Mo and Verizon at ~25mbps down.

Point is... your mileage may vary. Depending on your area, your signal, tower congestion, your carrier. Many of us will experience fantastic 5G performance/throughput with lower latency. Others will still suffer from old carrier equipment, congestion + deprioritization.

Having watched all the reviews of the Android 5G phones, I fully expect to have equal performance to what I have today if not worse in areas where low-band 5G is prevalent. But where it is in place, and the stars align, 5G will be great.

I don't disagree with you. But at the end of the day Apple isn't marketing their phones just to the lucky few who have 5G. They are marketing 5G to everyone, regardless of what their 5G coverage is. I personally don't have a problem with it, but I could easily see where a consumer could feel cheated buying the iPhone 12 based on 5G due to how Apple is marketing the device.

 

[DevinNj]

Again as I've said all along, 5G is in it's early stages of development/deployment, this is to be expected. Where I live I don't have reliable LTE coverage so 5g, forget it, not anytime soon. So again, buyer beware, how well it works is a toss up at this stage.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Well said!

YMMV

People are so quick to bring negativity to a new product with new hardware and technology.

Remember the old days when 4G LTE was non existent or spotty at best?

Funny how people forget the past....

FWIW my 5G is awesome - always on 5G everywhere from home to work to around town.
Thanks Apple!

I had the Verizon HTC thunderbolt. 4g was so amazing (sarcasm). I barely got 4 hours of standby battery life. But it was fast in the 2-3 locations I could get it. Lol. I remember the forced blockbuster app just guzzled gigs of data downloading movie thumbnails - no way to turn it off. Not so good times. Lol

It is funny how people forget the past.

 

[4sallypat]

I had the Verizon HTC thunderbolt. 4g was so amazing (sarcasm). I barely got 4 hours of standby battery life. But it was fast in the 2-3 locations I could get it. Lol. I remember the forced blockbuster app just guzzled gigs of data downloading movie thumbnails - no way to turn it off. Not so good times. Lol

It is funny how people forget the past.

You have a very advanced phone !

Oh I remember my CDMA phone from Verizon was a flip phone - could not watch any movies, but the texting using the physical press keys were amazing (sarcasm).....

 

[BrandonMatt0718]

Yep, I upgraded from the 11 Pro Max too for the 12 Pro Max because it has Qualcomm radios. Comparatively, the Intel modems were crap. I'll take more bars any day, the networks will mature and improve. The Intel radios are inferior to Qualcomm; I'm happy to get the signal performance back.

 

[LongWayHome]

Yep, I upgraded from the 11 Pro Max too for the 12 Pro Max because it has Qualcomm radios. Comparatively, the Intel modems were crap. I'll take more bars any day, the networks will mature and improve. The Intel radios are inferior to Qualcomm; I'm happy to get the signal performance back.

Is there any data that shows the Qualcomm modem gets better reception than the Intel? We have both the 12 Pro Max and the 12 Mini in our home and I don't really see any increase in signal performance. I have the same number of bars as I did at home with my previous iPhones.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Verizon Wireless:

Friday night I was sitting in my car in a Target parking lot trying to see if my Target.com order was ready for pickup or not. I had max bars of 5g reception. My iPhone refused to load any webpage... or mail... I counted 3 minutes to load Target.com. Sometimes if I held my phone up to my window it would load then quickly go back to spinning. I noticed apps acted like I had no internet.

Switched to LTE - BAM - instant loading, ... of everything.

To say that this was a little frustrating would be an understatement.