Less than 30 hours after T-Mobile’s special media event yesterday, there appears to be a lot of confusion on the current iPhone 5 and what will or won’t work on T-Mobile’s network. So how about we try to clear that up and get right down to the nitty-gritty:
The Current iPhone 5: Model A1428…what will work?
- HSPA+ 21Mbps on the 1900 band
- LTE will work on this device, contrary to confusion surrounding some posts yesterday.
- Apple/T-Mobile send out a .ipcc carrier update to enable LTE, otherwise current iPhone 5 unlocked owners do not need to do anything else.
- 850/900/1900/2100 HSPA+ capable
The iPhone 5 releasing on April 12th: Model A1428…what will work?
- HSPA+ 42Mbps on the 1700 band
- HSPA+ 21Mbps on the 1900 band — this is due to the T-Mobile’s 1900MHz not being DC-HSDPA capable.
- LTE on the 1700MHz band
- This is a true worldwide phone and will access everywhere T-Mobile has AWS 1700MHz coverage and 1900MHz refarmed coverage.
- 850/900/1700/1900/2100 HSPA+
Current iPhone 5 Verizon/Sprint: Model A1429
- No T-Mobile LTE
- No AWS T-Mobile 3G or 4G
- 3G only on T-Mobile in the 1900MHz refarmed areas and 2G/EDGE elsewhere
- 850/900/1900/2100 HSDPA/HSPA+/DC-DSDPA and CDMA
The iPhone 4 and 4S models…what will work?
- Will get “4G” on the 1900MHz refarmed areas and 2G/EDGE everywhere else.
- No LTE support
- No 1700 AWS support
- Will only be sold where the 1900MHz HSPA+ 21Mbps refarmed is available or planned.
Hat tip to user Satnam1989 on MacRumors forums for breaking it down and clearing the air.