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Apple is set to introduce its first 5G phones in October. Don’t worry, there won’t be huge bezels on the sides of the screen like this older iPhone.
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This story is part of Apple Event, our full coverage of the latest news from Apple headquarters.
Apple’s latest tease: “Hi, Speed.” 5G speed, that is. The company is gearing up to introduce its next week, and the biggest new feature is likely to be something commonly found in Android smartphones; next-generation 5G cellular connectivity. The new version of wireless networks started rolling out across the globe last year and picked up speed in 2020. Virtually all new Android phones arriving in the US today offer 5G, and the country’s biggest carriers have been talking nonstop about the connectivity. Now that Apple is jumping into the fray with its 5G-enabled iPhone 12 models, the buzz about 5G is only going to get louder — even if consumers in places like the US aren’t exactly clamoring for 5G devices.
Apple on Tuesday sent out its invites for a virtual event on Oct. 13, where it’s widely expected to show off its new iPhone lineup, with devices likely called the iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. Most, if not all, of the phones will sport 5G connectivity, which has the potential to be much faster than 4G. The devices will likely go on presale late next week before arriving in stores the following week.
Apple typically isn’t the first to introduce new technology, like mobile payments and wireless charging. It was at least a generation behind in adopting 3G and cellular capabilities in earlier iPhones. But once it jumps in, it tends to dominate and shape the market in ways other handset makers can’t. The same thing is expected to happen with 5G, which industry observers think could drive a huge uptick in iPhone demand. It’s a clear way for Apple to differentiate its new devices from its older models, as well as spur new innovations and services that tap into the high speeds and zippy responsiveness 5G offers.
When Apple sells its first 5G iPhones this year, it’ll immediately become one of the top 5G phone vendors in the world, even though its first phones aren’t hitting the market until the fourth quarter.
This year, Apple will leapfrog Samsung — which has about a dozen 5G phone models available and which — to become the second-largest 5G phone seller after Huawei, according to Strategy Analytics. And next year, Apple will be the world’s biggest 5G phone vendor, Strategy Analytics said, shipping an estimated 180 million of 2021’s 670 million 5G phones.
“There’s a so-called Apple effect,” Strategy Analytics analyst Ville-Petteri Ukonaho said. “Whatever Apple does, it almost immediately becomes a success.”
But first, the company’s task will be showing consumers why 5G is worth the upgrade.
Apple declined to comment ahead of its event.
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When will Apple sell the iPhone 12?
Apple on Tuesday said , about a month later than its normal iPhone launch timing. Preorders are likely to start the 16th, followed by availability in stores — at least the ones that are open — the following Friday.
Apple in July warned that its newest iPhones because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It still held an event in September but focused on its Apple Watches and iPads instead of its phones.
Apple set Oct. 13 for its iPhone launch.
Apple
It’s unclear whether all new iPhone models will be available this month, or if the sales dates will be staggered. Millimeter-wave versions of some Android phones have arrived later than the other 5G models. In the past, Apple has released some iPhone models, like the iPhone X, because of factors like production delays.
How many iPhones will Apple launch? And how will they be different?
Look for : the , 6.1-inch iPhone 12, 6.1-inch 12 Pro and 6.7-inch 12 Pro Max. For those keeping track, that’s one more iPhone than last year’s lineup (the iPhone 11 didn’t have a Mini version), and the more premium phones — the Pro and Pro Max — get a bump in screen size.
Last year’s new iPhone lineup included the 6.1-inch iPhone 11, the 5.8-inch iPhone 11 Pro and the 6.5-inch iPhone 11 Pro Max.
Along with a potential extra model and screen tweaks, most, if not all, models are expected to come with 5G, as well as Apple’s updated A14 Bionic processor. In terms of the iPhone 12’s design, Apple to add flat edges, similar to the design of the newer iPads.
For more on the expected iPhone 12 features, .
What does it mean to have 5G on an iPhone?
The most noticeable improvement with 5G over what the iPhone offers today is faster connectivity, hence Apple’s “Hi, Speed” invite. 5G can run between 10 and 100 times faster than your typical 4G cellular connection, making downloads and video streaming snappier than ever.
Importantly, 5G’s latency — the amount of time between when your phone pings the network and when the network responds — is much faster than what 4G and even Wi-Fi provide. In the future, that or Zoom videoconferences that are actually in sync. We’ll be able to do things we could never do before on a mobile device, and do them nearly instantaneously.
For the iPhone, we could see new augmented reality features that take advantage of 5G’s high speeds and low latency. Apple incorporated AR clues in its invites for the September and October events.
Why do I need a 5G iPhone?
In a word: future-proofing. Though 5G networks may not be everywhere right now, in the next few years they sure will be. Already, the technology has been rolling out faster than 4G a decade ago, and pricing for devices has been falling farther and quicker than anticipated.
When 4G first hit the market, Americans bought their phones under two-year plans, typically paying a small amount in exchange for staying with a carrier for a couple of years. That cycle nudged consumers to upgrade their phones every other year.
Now the US smartphone market has shifted to consumers buying phones outright or purchasing them on monthly payment plans. That means people are holding onto their phones longer than before, about three years instead of two, analysts say. If you buy a new iPhone every year, you might not need 5G yet. But if you’ll buy an iPhone in 2020 and not purchase another until late 2023, you’ll want to get a model with 5G connectivity.
How fast could my 5G iPhone be?
It depends on the type of 5G in each phone. Low-band 5G, which is favored by T-Mobile and AT&T, isn’t much different from 4G speeds. But millimeter wave, which has been pushed by Verizon, is blazing fast. , which connects most 5G phones today, lets you download data at up to 7 Gbps and upload information at 3 Gbps.
Qualcomm builds a custom modem for Apple, but the mmWave-enabled iPhones are likely to see similar speeds.
, will be in phones next year. That chip slightly bumps download speeds to 7.5 Gbps, though uploads stay steady at 3 Gbps. You will, however, see faster average speeds, Qualcomm said. The X60 has the ability to aggregate the slower sub-6 networks with the faster mmWave spectrum, boosting overall performance.
In between, there’s a sweet-spot frequency called midband spectrum, which has a nice balance of speed and range. It’s commonly used in markets around the world, though in the US, 메리트카지노주소 only T-Mobile currently employs it thanks to its acquisition of Sprint.
How does millimeter-wave spectrum benefit the next iPhone?
When companies boast about the game-changing benefits of 5G, what they’re talking about is the mmWave version of the technology. That’s the ultrahigh-speed connectivity that makes 4G seem poky. There’s a serious downside to mmWave, though: The signals have trouble going through walls, and they can get blocked by trees, buildings and other items.
Right now Verizon is the main carrier pushing mmWave. It hasn’t yet launched its slower but more reliable nationwide 5G network. AT&T initially introduced mmWave 5G connectivity, but lately it has focused on its lower-band airwaves. And T-Mobile, 메리트카지노 which has a small footprint of mmWave, has focused on its nationwide low-band coverage, as well as Sprint’s midband airwaves.
Virtually all other countries around the globe have also shunned mmWave in favor of lower bands of 5G, at least right now. Apple may only offer mmWave in one version of the iPhone 12.
How much will 5G affect the price of the new iPhones?
We won’t know the pricing until Apple announces its new iPhones, but . Some believe the iPhone 12 could actually be less expensive than last year’s iPhone 11, which retailed for $699. But it’s more likely that Apple will introduce a Mini version with lower pricing.
The odds are high that Apple will have to boost pricing in the rest of the lineup to account for the 5G chips in its devices. The new modems are expensive, and they that also add to the cost of the iPhone’s materials. The higher expense of mmWave could be why Apple is expected to include the technology in only one version of the iPhone 12: the 12 Pro Max.
When the first Android 5G phones hit the market, they were significantly more expensive than the 4G versions. Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G from last year retailed for $1,299, a whopping $400 more than the 4G-only version. The company’s most recent 5G phones — — are only slightly more expensive than the previous year’s 4G models. The Galaxy S20, for instance, starts at $999 and automatically comes with 5G, while last year’s Galaxy S10 started at $899 for the 4G model.
When they hit the market a year ago, the iPhone 11 Pro cost $999 and the 11 Pro Max started at $1,099. Leaks about pricing for the new iPhone 12 lineup are all over the place. Some rumors peg the new models at $699 for the iPhone 12, $1,049 for the iPhone 12 Pro and $1,149 for the iPhone 12 Pro Max. The Mini could cost as little as $649.
As Samsung has found, it’s . But Apple always has fans who clamor for its newest phones, no matter what. A “staggering” 53% of respondents plan to buy this year’s iPhone, according to a survey by electronics reseller Decluttr.
What US carriers will offer a 5G iPhone? And can I buy it unlocked?
We’re long past the days of only one carrier offering the newest iPhone. When Apple first introduced its smartphone in 2007, AT&T was its exclusive partner. But now all carriers sell the device at the same time. AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile will all sell the new iPhones, as will all major and small carriers around the globe.
The possible wild card could be mmWave. Some handset makers, like Samsung, have opted to create one custom model in their lineup that runs on the ultrafast network for Verizon, while most versions only tap into the slower but steadier airwaves.
The mmWave models, dubbed UW or Ultra Wideband by Verizon, have tended to cost more and hit the market later than the lower-band models. They’ve also dropped some features to make room for the mmWave hardware. shipped with less RAM and lost the microSD card slot found on other S20 5G phones sold by rival carriers.
Samsung priced its mmWave, Verizon version of the , though Verizon is offering a promotion to lower the cost, and its than the version without mmWave. Likewise, the Pixel 4A 5G on Verizon is $100 more than the base $500 price.
Some rumors say only the iPhone 12 Pro Max will come with mmWave connectivity.
Where can I get 5G service for the iPhone 12?
5G is available in many countries around the globe, particularly China and the US. In the US, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile have all turned on their 5G networks, and they continue expanding their coverage footprints.
T-Mobile at the beginning of April, immediately giving the combined company a big 5G footprint. , which meant its network covered over 200 million people. And at the beginning of June, it became the first carrier to . Its 5G network currently covers more than 225 million people.
AT&T’s 5G service now covers over 205 million people, and its . The company also has deployed millimeter-wave 5G, what it calls 5G Plus, in 36 cities around the country. (To further complicate things, the carrier also rebranded its 4G LTE network as 5GE, but we’ll get to that in a minute.)
AT&T also has deployed dynamic spectrum sharing in parts of its network, which will speed up its 5G rollout. The technology lets carriers use the same spectrum bands for both 4G and 5G, allowing them to turn on their 5G networks without having to first turn off 4G. Instead of having different roads for buses and cars, DSS is like having one big highway with separate lanes for buses and for cars.
Though Verizon long has bragged that its 4G network is in more places than its rivals’ offerings, it can’t say the same with 5G. By initially focusing on mmWave, which it calls 5G Ultra Wideband, Verizon limited itself to big markets like New York, Chicago, Denver and Atlanta. It’s in 36 cities around the US, but its coverage is available only in certain parts of those cities. Much of its investment has focused on football stadiums — which are empty this NFL season.
Verizon will roll out its low-band, nationwide network this year. It already has been including support for the forthcoming, wider-coverage network in all its 2020 5G devices.
Will a 5G iPhone work in rural areas?
Rural areas don’t have mmWave now, and it’s not likely they ever will. Instead, carriers are relying on low-band airwaves, like T-Mobile’s 5G network, to bring faster connectivity to more-remote areas.
Some experts expect 5G to eventually be a boon for rural parts of the US, including areas that of at least 25 Mbps. But others warn it could take several years or more — if ever — for carriers to actually deploy 5G in more-remote, sparsely populated parts of the country, so it may not be worth it to snag a new iPhone just for the 5G.
An estimated 18 million people in the US don’t have a broadband connection with download speeds of at least 25 megabits per second, according to a 2020 tally from the Federal Communications Commission. Experts say the official figures are almost certainly lower than reality because of faulty maps.