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Teaser: iPhone gets two new models but no LTE band *trifecta* on Sprint


WiWavelength

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by Andrew J. Shepherd

Sprint 4G Rollout Updates

Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 1:10 PM MDT

 

To cut right to the chase, Apple announced at its live event today two new iPhone models: high end iPhone 5S and mid range iPhone 5C. Both are coming to Sprint and both support Sprint LTE -- but only dual band Sprint LTE. The new crop of iPhone models for the next year will not be tri band LTE handsets on Sprint.

 

The LTE bands supported by iPhone 5S (A1453) and iPhone 5C (A1456) are substantial and as follows: band 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26. For Sprint users, that means dual band LTE 1900/800.

 

While 13 total bands seems impressive, a few of those bands -- such as band 2/25 and band 5/26 -- are subset/superset bands. The big takeaway for Sprint users, though, is that band 41 is absent this year. So, TD-LTE 2600 will be coming soon to several tri band Android handsets but not to the dual band two new iPhone models. Band 38 TD-LTE 2600 is limited to the Asia/Oceania variants.

 

Also worthy of note, Sprint and SoftBank share the same iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C variants this year. Whether that is merely coincidence is impossible to determine. But Sprint and SoftBank have talked about combined economy of scale as a benefit of their tie up.

 

To conclude, the new iPhone FCC OET docs have not yet trickled out, but as they do, we will have more info to come. Stay tuned...

 

Source: Apple

Thread: http://s4gru.com/index.php?/topic/4442-the-iphone-5s-iphone-5c-not-tri-band-lte-was-next-iphone-to-be-announced-on-september-10/

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I wanted LTE 2600 as well, but I have a feeling this is a case where in "most" markets some people will have 2600 enabled devices, but will not have 2600 for another year anyways, except in the handful of markets where Clearwire was already rolling out 2600 -- LTE 2600 in other markets is part of NV 2.0 which begin in late 2014.. so it'll be awhile for most.

 

To put this into perspective:

 

Many of us had LTE 1900 Sprint devices with no SPrint LTE as well... huh?  In fact I'm in a 4th round market and I'm waiting just for LTE 1900.

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Yeah I don't think band 41 is a big deal for at least anyone not in a clearwire wimax zone because we likely wont see td lte until Sprint puts it into there network vision rollout next year. Im surprised its dual band because I thought there was not going to be any dual band LTE on Sprint.

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Im surprised its dual band because I thought there was not going to be any dual band LTE on Sprint.

 

If Apple says, "Jump", Sprint asks, "How high?"

 

I do not like it, but that is just the way it goes because of the iPhone mystique among the unwashed masses.

 

AJ

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All things considered, I'd rather take the experience of dual band 1900/800 broadcasting from the same tower rather than a tri-band broadcasting from two different towers. At least for now.

 

I'm torn though, I have an upgrade available to get the 5S, and can sell my 5 for at least the cost of the 5S, if not more, so what to do?

 

I also am looking to upgrade my fiancee's phone, from a 4S to a 5S, and I'm sure she'll be happy with it.

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I also am looking to upgrade my fiancee's phone, from a 4S to a 5S, and I'm sure she'll be happy with it.

 

Give a woman any iPhone.  She will not know the difference and will be happy, right?

 

;)

 

AJ

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So no single-SKU for North America with Sprint being the odd one out. However, the Sprint variant does appear to be fully compatible with the other three carriers (but not vica-versa). Unfortunately Sprint will likely continue to lock their hanset for other US carriers use.

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All things considered, I'd rather take the experience of dual band 1900/800 broadcasting from the same tower rather than a tri-band broadcasting from two different towers. At least for now.

 

I'm torn though, I have an upgrade available to get the 5S, and can sell my 5 for at least the cost of the 5S, if not more, so what to do?

 

I also am looking to upgrade my fiancee's phone, from a 4S to a 5S, and I'm sure she'll be happy with it.

The iphone 5 is still retaining quite a bit of its value.  You can probably sell your iphone 5 and just pay the difference for a 5s unsubsidised and keep your upgrade or sell the iphone 5, use your upgrade and still have a couple hundred left over for something else. 

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Unfortunately Sprint will likely continue to lock their hanset for other US carriers use.

 

Maybe.  We shall see.  But as long as the subsidy system continues, the lockout of other domestic operators makes sense.  Deadbeats should not be able to take their iPhones to other providers.

 

AJ

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The iphone 5 is still retaining quite a bit of its value.  You can probably sell your iphone 5 and just pay the difference for a 5s unsubsidised and keep your upgrade or sell the iphone 5, use your upgrade and still have a couple hundred left over for something else. 

I like HTC but this is the reason I will not buy another HTC product. HTC value drops so fast in the first year its ridiculous. High demand=high long term value I suppose.

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I like HTC but this is the reason I will not buy another HTC product. HTC value drops so fast in the first year its ridiculous. High demand=high long term value I suppose.

 

Regarding resale, iPhone = iron pyrite.  If you do not recognize it, look it up.

 

;)

 

AJ

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We probably won't have band 41 in Most of San Diego for a few years. I have less than a month left on my iPhone 4S contract and LTE is still pretty scarce in this area. I imagine the band 41 buildout will take as long or longer than the LTE 1900.

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If Apple says, "Jump", Sprint asks, "How high?"

 

I do not like it, but that is just the way it goes because of the iPhone mystique among the unwashed masses.

 

AJ

 

Is it telling Sprint and everyone else to jump, or Apple just doing what they want in spite of everyone?

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For all the Apple folks, I would just be happy you got band 26. Coverage issues are the biggest problem with Sprint's LTE network for now and band 26 solves that problem. Capacity will only become an issue after you've upgraded to your next iPhone which will (probably) support band 41 with a built out network at that time.

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Is it telling Sprint and everyone else to jump, or Apple just doing what they want in spite of everyone?

 

Sprint could have declined to offer the iPhone this year because both models are only dual band on Sprint.  But that would have been political and financial suicide.  So, by making the 5S and 5C only dual band on Sprint, Apple is implicitly coercing Sprint into something that Sprint would probably prefer not to do -- release a dual band rather than tri band handset.

 

AJ

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We probably won't have band 41 in Most of San Diego for a few years. I have less than a month left on my iPhone 4S contract and LTE is still pretty scarce in this area. I imagine the band 41 buildout will take as long or longer than the LTE 1900.

Longer? How do you figure? It will be way faster. They just have to add a panel and a carrier card. Everything else will be there from the original Network Vision upgrade. It will be more like Tmo's upgrade...just an overlay.

 

And now with SoftBank money and the fact that wireless crews should be a little less busy next year than this year, the Band 41 overlay should take less than 12 months start to finish on existing Network Vision sites.

 

Also, Sprint will have the existing WiMax sites with a complete LTE Band 41 overlay complete in Spring 2014. So there will be a lot of Band 41 coverage that will be missed during the contract life of this device. But a supplemental Triband hotspot is not that expensive if one is ever needed/desired.

 

Robert

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Longer? How do you figure?

 

I think the San Diegans are still bitter about WiMAX, and that perpetually colors their expectations.  Plus, their city is named after a whale's vagina.

 

 

:P

 

AJ

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To me, the lack of 2600 is not a cause for concern.  I don't even live in a city which has existing Wimax 2600.  The fact that the 7th generation iPhone will have 800smr LTE support is going to entice me to stay as a Sprint customer.  I'm excited about having rural LTE coverage that is on par with Verizon and AT&T's and also the in-building penetration of 850mhz.  Keep 2600 as an option for those people with Mi-Fis and portable hotspots, let them eat up that 2600 service because in most cases it wouldn't be accessible to me anyway.

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To me, the lack of 2600 is not a cause for concern.  I don't even live in a city which has existing Wimax 2600.  The fact that the 7th generation iPhone will have 800smr LTE support is going to entice me to stay as a Sprint customer.  I'm excited about having rural LTE coverage that is on par with Verizon and AT&T's and also the in-building penetration of 850mhz.  Keep 2600 as an option for those people with Mi-Fis and portable hotspots, let them eat up that 2600 service because in most cases it wouldn't be accessible to me anyway.

 

I agree that if I had to choose between Band 41 and 26, I would choose 26.  And no Band 41 support is fine in the short term.  But as it starts to become widespread mid contract and pushing Sprint average LTE speeds in 30-60Mbps range, it will become more frustrating not to have it.  

 

However, since the iPhone holds its value so well, you can just sell it and upgrade to the iPhone 6 mid contract for full cash price.  It will likely support Band 41.

 

Robert

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If the current speed of the LTE rollout is any indicator this isn't going to matter to anyone.  Now, if the iPhone 6 doesn't have support I might be worried.

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If the current speed of the LTE rollout is any indicator this isn't going to matter to anyone.  Now, if the iPhone 6 doesn't have support I might be worried.

 

No, that is not an apt parallel.  Hundreds of Clearwire sites across the country already have live and accessible TD-LTE 2600.  That may not matter to everyone, but it certainly does matter to some.

 

AJ

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For me, since I live and work in the suburbs, support for 1900MHz and 800MHz is a lot more important than support for 2600. Since Sprint can barely find enough tall sctructures around here for 1900MHz spacing, support for 2600MHz is not necessary. Maybe if enough android phones offload the 1900MHz and 800MHz bands we can have those other bands to ourselves. Doesn't the iPhone support the China Mobile TDD band? Wouldn't support for band 41 be just a software update away?

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Doesn't the iPhone support the China Mobile TDD band? Wouldn't support for band 41 be just a software update away?

 

Highly unlikely.  Sprint and SoftBank both are getting A1453 and A1456 for 5S and 5C, respectively.  China Mobile is not officially listed, but it should be getting A1530 and A1529, respectively.

 

The presumed China Mobile variants do support band 38 TD-LTE 2600, but that is not as all encompassing as band 41 TD-LTE 2600.  And there is no indication that the Sprint variants even contain the RF front end and antenna arrays for any high frequency bands.

 

AJ

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Longer? How do you figure? It will be way faster. They just have to add a panel and a carrier card. Everything else will be there from the original Network Vision upgrade. It will be more like Tmo's upgrade...just an overlay.

 

And now with SoftBank money and the fact that wireless crews should be a little less busy next year than this year, the Band 41 overlay should take less than 12 months start to finish on existing Network Vision sites.

 

It will take longer in a market like San Diego because they will need additional cell sites to do an adequate 2600 overlay. They will need to get permits, run fiber, etc. 2600 on existing sites will not provide enough coverage to make it an appealing user experience. Additionally, Clear did not have enough protection sites here to make a difference. I stand by my statement that it will take longer to cover San Diego in 2600 than 1900.

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Maybe if enough android phones offload the 1900MHz and 800MHz bands we can have those other bands to ourselves. Doesn't the iPhone support the China Mobile TDD band? Wouldn't support for band 41 be just a software update away?

 

Sprint has ( and will have ) way more Android phones stuck on 1900 then any other kind of phone. I doubt the offloading will occur anytime soon, but the bright spot is there's some 800 lte to go around

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