iPhone 12 Lineup's mmWave 5G Support Limited to the United States

Tuesday October 13, 2020 1:17 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol

As expected, the entire iPhone 12 lineup is compatible with faster 5G networks, but Apple's website confirms that support for high-frequency mmWave bands is limited to models sold in the United States. This includes compatibility with Verizon's new 5G Ultra Wideband network, which as of today is available in 55 cities across the country.

iphone 12 5g
mmWave is supported on all iPhone 12 models sold in the United States, ranging from the iPhone 12 mini to the iPhone 12 Pro Max. iPhone 12 models sold in all other countries and regions are limited to sub-6GHz bands for 5G.

mmWave is a set of 5G frequencies that promise ultra-fast speeds at short distances, making it best suited for dense urban areas. By comparison, sub-6GHz 5G is generally slower than mmWave, but the signals travel further, better serving suburban and rural areas. In most countries that offer 5G, sub-6GHz networks are more common.

mmWave vs. Sub-6GHz 5G iPhones: What's the Difference?

Apple says iPhone 12 models support more 5G bands than any other smartphone, and the devices can automatically adjust to LTE when necessary to save battery life, such as when updates are taking place in the background.

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro pre-orders begin Friday, October 16 at 5 a.m. Pacific Time, with shipments starting Friday, October 23. The smaller 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini and larger 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max are launching later, with pre-orders beginning Friday, November 6 at 5 a.m. Pacific Time and shipments starting Friday, November 13.

Tags: 5G iPhone Guide, October 2020 Event

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Top Rated Comments

Rudy69

79 months ago

I already wasn't excited about 5G....now I'm just thrilled

Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)

RamGuy

79 months ago

So this goes for both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro models? No biggie as mmWave won't make it to where I leave in Norway for at least 2 years+ and even if/when it does it seems like a technology not really meant for phones. The fact that you pretty much need line-of-sight between the transceiver and receiver makes it look technology that is supposed to be used for high throughput point-to-point connections and not cellular phones that you keep moving all over the place.

Regardless I find it really stupid for Apple to make yet another thing "US-only". So many of Apple latest releases seem to be US-first making me feel like a lesser customer and user for not living in the US. Not to mention how mmWave is supposed to make production cost noticeably higher. So this basically means that Apple non-US customers are pretty much paying more for less when purchasing the iPhone 12 or 12 Pro.

Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

TantalizedMind

79 months ago

There is still a notch on this thing?!!! Pass!

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Tim182

79 months ago

In the UK carriers are using n78 (3500MHz) for 5G. O2 is looking at rolling out n40/band40 (2300MHz) at some point, all of which are support by all iPhone 12 regional variants.

There is an additional auction for long range 5G on 700MHz in the UK and parts of Europe (Italy?) but this isn't being used yet. According to https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/cellular/ this band is also supported on on regional variants (n12 and n28).

Europe and Canadian model iPhones don't support mmWave (above 6-GHz) 5G. At this stage, there is no mmWave in Europe, although the EU (and UK?) are looking to license 26Ghz (n258) mmWave at some point. However, the US model does not support n258 - it supports n260 (39 GHz) and n261 (28 GHz) which are not in the pipeline for Europe. So the additional bands of the US model are pointless outside the US.

I note there also is the 600MHz 5G band which is supported in the Canadian (and US) version, but not in the European one... Not sure what the pipeline is for this?

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)