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Apple will add 5G to 2020 iPhones to compete with Android, analyst says

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Re: Apple will add 5G to 2020 iPhones to compete with Android, analyst says

#61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iPhones can limit between 4G, 3G, 2G for quite a while now, I'd assume this option would continue on. 60 GHz (802.11ad/802.11ay) is better suites for AR/VR, is already out, and doesn't have interference issues due to physics. 6 GHz should be focusing on devices that need to work at range not ones that can already be served via in-room frequencies.

Would 60Ghz (300-500m for 802.11ay) be competitive in power consumption with VLP 6Ghz (3m)?

Setting the data rate and transmit power to the same power sure, there isn't anything particular special about 60 GHz compared to 6 GHz other than 60 isn't going to make it through drywall.

Qualcomm has actually been releasing phone chipsets with 802.11ad for a while now. Intel did it for wireless laptop docking. Qualcomm's 5G modem also comes with 802.11ay but I don't know of anybody else that has deployed it yet.

Re: Apple will add 5G to 2020 iPhones to compete with Android, analyst says

#62
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5G is deployed in a lot of cities already, and nearly every android manufacturer has at least one 5g model. Being 18 months late to the party will really hurt Apple.

18 months is less than 1 refresh cycle. How is the average Apple user missing out by not having 5G now?

Being one refresh cycle late on a feature means 100% of the Apple users missed out on the feature, for one generation.

Being 3/4 of a refresh cycle late still means that 75% of the users missed out on the feature.

Re: Apple will add 5G to 2020 iPhones to compete with Android, analyst says

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There won't be any need to disable the radio for unused bands. Powering down unused hardware is literally the first thing the engineers do to save battery life. Edit: can't reply due to rate-limiting, but in principle, all they have to do to search for service is power up the receiver briefly, running at a very low duty cycle. This has no noticeable impact on battery life or any other aspect of the phone's operation.

But why would the hardware power down if it is constantly searching for a 5G base station, not find one because of OPs location?

Mobile networks have more management functions than WiFi, for instance.

If you're in a high density area, the mobile network will push the device to small range cells (handover), or tell the device which other cells are available in that area (list of neighbor cells).

However, the smartphone is not required to search for a base station all the time. It receives hints from the network.

Re: Apple will add 5G to 2020 iPhones to compete with Android, analyst says

#64

Can rural iPhone users manually disable mmWave radios on their local devices, since there will be no use for the beamforming receiver outside of urban areas? On a related topic, 6Ghz WiFi (unlicensed and unmetered) is needed for AR glasses which won't have the battery power for cellular service, https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/7/23/20707456/6... > Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, HP, Qualcomm, Intel,…

There won't be any need to disable the radio for unused bands. Powering down unused hardware is literally the first thing the engineers do to save battery life. Edit: can't reply due to rate-limiting, but in principle, all they have to do to search for service is power up the receiver briefly, running at a very low duty cycle. This has no noticeable impact on battery life or any other aspect of the phone's operation.

From practical experience, it’s very common for people to find their phone (iPhone or other) burning through tons of battery when they go out in the sticks, and this is reliably fixed by turning off cellular data. So either it’s not as easy as you say, or they haven’t bothered solving the problem.

Re: Apple will add 5G to 2020 iPhones to compete with Android, analyst says

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There won't be any need to disable the radio for unused bands. Powering down unused hardware is literally the first thing the engineers do to save battery life. Edit: can't reply due to rate-limiting, but in principle, all they have to do to search for service is power up the receiver briefly, running at a very low duty cycle. This has no noticeable impact on battery life or any other aspect of the phone's operation.

From practical experience, it’s very common for people to find their phone (iPhone or other) burning through tons of battery when they go out in the sticks, and this is reliably fixed by turning off cellular data. So either it’s not as easy as you say, or they haven’t bothered solving the problem.

If there's no service at all, that may be a different matter entirely. As ndjskska says, the cell network itself keeps the phone up to date with the nearby topology, so there's no need for it to keep pinging for a service that isn't there.

Re: Apple will add 5G to 2020 iPhones to compete with Android, analyst says

#66
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

5G is deployed in a lot of cities already, and nearly every android manufacturer has at least one 5g model. Being 18 months late to the party will really hurt Apple.

18 months is less than 1 refresh cycle. How is the average Apple user missing out by not having 5G now?

They aren't missing out. They aren't buying new iPhones. Apple is missing out on a lot of revenue but they know their customers will wait for them.

I'm still on an iPhone X and will be until there is a compelling new iPhone.

Switching to android would require paying for a lot of apps that I use regularly all over again. Not worth it for me.

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