According to The Telegraph, Apple’s upcoming line of iPhones could be in trouble in the U.K. if the devices do not support the 700MHz 5G band.
Rumoured to be called the iPhone 12, Apple is all set to reveal the latest and greatest iPhone in a special event streamed online on October 13. Apple sent out a cryptic invite to the event captioned “Hi, Speed.”, possibly hinting at the new iPhone’s support for 5G connectivity.
5G is the newest and fastest generation of cellular network technology, so naturally, Apple had to incorporate support for the standard into its newest iPhone. However, industry insiders warn that the newest iPhones could land in hot water in the U.K. if they are launched without support for the 700MHz 5G band, which is on the lower end of the 5G spectrum.
“If it doesn’t support 700MHz then you end up with coverage problems,” said Matthew Howett, an analyst at Assembly.
While lower spectrum bands like the 700MHz band struggle with capacity and cannot support a large number of people uploading and downloading data simultaneously, they are critical to boosting cellular signals to extend network coverage to more remote areas where antennae are few and far between.
If the new iPhones do launch without 700MHz band support, users in the U.K. could end up facing connectivity issues on 5G networks. Ofcom is set to auction off the 700MHz 5G band early next year, after which it will be quickly rolled out across the U.K.
In Canada, Telus and Bell use AWS-3 bands for its 5G network. Rogers uses 2.5 GHz and 600 MHz spectrum for its 5G network. All of Canada’s wireless carriers should be ready to support 5G on Apple’s newest iPhones.
