Does iPhone 12 support UK 700 Mhz?

[Tommie38]

A couple of days before the iPhone 12 launch, there were a number of articles, linking back to an article in the Telegraph, that said the new iPhone might not support the frequencies most likely to offer 5G in the UK. It went on to say that EE would have an advantage because it was able to offer 5G at other frequencies.

Having watched the launch on Tuesday, which referred to covering a broad range of bands, and then looking at the specifications, am I right in thinking that this is now a non-issue? I can see 700Mhz listed.

https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/cellular/

I would like to do a pre-order but want some definitive commentary first. The news sources appear to have gone quiet since the original set of articles.

[AJB88]

If it says it on the official Apple site is that not enough for you?

[Tommie38]

I can see different types of 700Mhz and I don’t know enough about the technology to know if any of them fit the UK market.

Basically, spanking £1k on a phone to find out it can’t offer the functionality that you thought you were getting does not sound like a good plan!

[AJB88]

If UK networks are selling it then it must work,

[Paul_M3]

This: https://awtg.co.uk/5g-spectrum-uk explains that there will be three bands in use. (Eventually I guess)

This: https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/cellular/ suggests the the iPhone will be able to access bands n28 and n78, but not the really fast n258 band.

[tertius]

Although the thought of it is very attractive, realistically what are we going to do with significantly greater bandwidth on a phone? My three year old phone already achieves over 50 MBPS download via 4G which is nearly what I get with broadband to the house and that seems to run numerous devices (PCs, phones, the TV) with no issues.

[Tommie38]

What phone are you getting 50m on?

[Tommie38]

Paul_M3 said:

This: https://awtg.co.uk/5g-spectrum-uk explains that there will be three bands in use. (Eventually I guess)

This: https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/cellular/ suggests the the iPhone will be able to access bands n28 and n78, but not the really fast n258 band.

Great post - thank you.

That still reads to me like only Three are going to be able to give a good experience, without a lot of trading.

I live in a London suburb, which is never going to get the fastest rates but you would expect to get the intermediate level.

[Paul_M3]

Tommie38 said:

Paul_M3 said:

This: https://awtg.co.uk/5g-spectrum-uk explains that there will be three bands in use. (Eventually I guess)

This: https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/cellular/ suggests the the iPhone will be able to access bands n28 and n78, but not the really fast n258 band.

Great post - thank you.

That still reads to me like only Three are going to be able to give a good experience, without a lot of trading.

I live in a London suburb, which is never going to get the fastest rates but you would expect to get the intermediate level.

I live in Suffolk. I'd be over the moon to get 4G everywhere! (Or even a signal at all in some places)

[Gareth79]

tertius said:

Although the thought of it is very attractive, realistically what are we going to do with significantly greater bandwidth on a phone? My three year old phone already achieves over 50 MBPS download via 4G which is nearly what I get with broadband to the house and that seems to run numerous devices (PCs, phones, the TV) with no issues.

Probably not much, however the latency of 5G is much much lower, which will improve usage of tasks which make heavy use of back-and-forth data, rather than continuous heavy streams. Also 5G allows for many more devices per tower - 4G and older have a limit which is often hit in many cities, ie. the equipment isn't being overloaded per-se but it simply cannot have any more devices registered.

Edited by Gareth79 on Thursday 15th October 11:48

[mmm-five]

Tommie38 said:

What phone are you getting 50m on?

I get 80-100mbps on my EE 4G Max plan on my iPhone 11 Pro...at home in Lockdown Liverpool.

Pity I only get 3mbps when I'm in the office in London.



Comes in handy as a backup if there's engineering work on the Virgin broadband service.

Edited by mmm-five on Thursday 15th October 12:01

[tertius]

Tommie38 said:

What phone are you getting 50m on?

iPhone 8 on 3

Just ran a couple of tests:

4G on 3: 57.1 down / 14.1 up / ping 22 ms

BT via wi-fi: 59.8 / 17.3 / 6 ms

[Tommie38]

Wow. I had no idea 4G could go that high.

[SarlechS]

Tommie38 said:

Wow. I had no idea 4G could go that high.

5G tops out at 1GBPS (1 Gig)

it'll be some years before we can utilise that. 4G isn't truly built out yet to be honest, lots of areas in the UK where 4G is hitting sub 10mbps.

[Tommie38]

I’ve just tried at home and I am currently under 10 on an old iPhone 6. Best I have seen is 20.

[anonymous-user]

I’ve seen 280mbps on mine, 4g
But 20 is more than enough for my needs
5g is of no use to me TBH, I don’t need to stream 5 x HD movies simultaneously !

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 15th October 12:42

[page3]

I dumped my FTTC home broadband (26/2 when working, 5 weeks totally broken, daily drops, BT uninterested in fixing) and now exclusively use 4G via a home modem/router - average around 50/20 with peaks at 100/30. £20/month less than FTTC.

[Tommie38]

Bought an iPhone 12 in the end. No 5G in my area so thought I would go and find a 5G area, 15 mins away.

Result was 306 down and 42 up. Even if I don’t get better than that I’d be happy.

[megaphone]

Tommie38 said:

Bought an iPhone 12 in the end. No 5G in my area so thought I would go and find a 5G area, 15 mins away.

Result was 306 down and 42 up. Even if I don’t get better than that I’d be happy.

My mate has a Samsung 5G phone, we tested at my house, over 400 down and 200 up. That was on EE.

[anonymous-user]

I'm getting about 12mb down and less than 2 up on 5g in my house (Samsung Galaxy 20 on EE).