When Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S to the world on Tuesday, the smartphone’s ability to take advantage of HSPA+ data speeds raised some eyebrows. Were the carriers going to brand the 4S as a “4G’ device?
It appears that Apple and AT&T are both working to replace the 3G indicator in the iPhone 4S status bar with the term “4G.” Will the iPhone 4S actually have reliable 4G speeds? Probably not.
This is my next got the scoop:
“AT&T and T-Mobile have led the charge over the past year to brand their upgraded HSPA+ networks as “4G,” even though such networks historically don’t fall into the “4G” definition — and considering that AT&T is in the process of rolling out LTE concurrently, it can be a confusing message for customers to hear. That said, there’s no sign of AT&T’s network branding effort slowing down, but here’s a bit of a shocker: the carrier is apparently “working with Apple” to change the indicator in the iPhone 4S (which tops out at 14.4Mbps, up from the iPhone 4′s 7.2Mbps) to show “4G” in the status bar as well.”
The fact that the iPhone 4S can top out at 14.4Mbps doesn’t mean that users will see such high speeds frequently on AT&T. The iPhone 4S uses HSPA+ technology, not LTE. Classically, HSPA+ hasn’t been considered a “4G” standard. But the fact that it’s faster than regular 3G means that carriers feel the need to brand smartphones with the 4G label. (Anything for sales.)
AT&T’s LTE network is rolling out slowly in some of the bigger US cities. It won’t be until at least 2012 before LTE saturation reaches a noticeable level throughout the country.
Gizmodo has confirmed that AT&T and Apple are working to make the iPhone 4S say “4G” in the status bar, even though you won’t really have what’s technically considered “4G” speeds.
Hooray.
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
34 responses to “AT&T and Apple Want Your iPhone 4S Status Bar to Say “4G” [Report]”
there you are – Clear as Mud !
This is crap, I have att and Dont want them labeling my phone with 4G when its not. Once real 4G LTE comes out for ATT it will be stupid to label this phone that way. Absurd
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Interesting… Seems like a huge gimmick though seeing as the 14.4mbps down is only theoretical.
Name it “3GS”
They should instead have an indicator (if possible) that simply says how fast things are uploading by means of a simple number.
There are already pedants arguing that LTE isn’t “really” 4G anyway even though it’s the thing that was originally considered the definition of the standard so it’s all muddled anyway now.
Should be 3G when you’re on HSPA and 3G+ when you have HSPA+.
Look… if AT&T’s network, as it is, cannot support up to what iPhone 4 can currently do (7.2 mb/s), how can their crappy network support what the iPhone 4S is capable of. They are full of shit!!!!
I’m glad Apple didn’t go the 4G route and are offering other technological methods of getting faster speeds. 4G’s a battery killer, and in this refresh of the iPhone, they bumped up the battery life. I highly doubt we’ll ever see a 4G iPhone, or even LTE for that matter. I bet there’s still people out there holding their breath for an SD card slot or mini USB port in the iPhone. lmao. Riiiight.
Currently, 4G phones & the networks offer download speeds up to 14.4, in some cases even less & still have the 4G label. So if there’s an issue with one handset claiming 4G download speeds, then there are many other devices that are claiming 4G inappropriately as well. Besides, neither the carriers nor the phones are going to reach download speeds anywhere near the theoretical maximum. Like wired ( home ) high-speed Internet service which claims a certain download speed that never really happens. My service provides upto 12MB/s, but really tops out @ just under 10MB/s
Cheers !
The definition of 4G is 100Mbit/s on ‘high mobility’ objects (cars/trains), 1Gbit/s on ‘low mobility’ situations (walking, standing still).. Verizon LTE (and for that matter EVERY OTHER major commercial communication provider) is NOT truly 4G.. so if HSDPA+ produces similar speeds as LTE and AT&T wants to use the ‘4G’ moniker, like Verizon does.. its no more guilty of false advertising/marketing than Verizon (and in fact is at a disadvantage for not using it).
I have an HTC Thunderbolt as well as an iPhone 4. The TB gets download speeds of 5-8Mbit/s down (1-4 up) routinely.. if HSDPA+ on AT&T can get similar speeds, do i really care what they call it (4G/3G/3G+)?
Amen! I was hoping someone posted this.
Doesn’t the government step in to prevent false advertising? Now wonder all those idiots on At&t though they got a 4G iPhone 4. I guess At&t still has exclusivity on that Apple “reality distortion field”.
AT&T, and ESPECIALLY Apple, better wait until this f-ing thing comes out and see how it performs on the actual network. AT&T can say all the crap they want… and they have said a lot of crap for the past 3 years: best network, fewest dropped calls (yet, if you’ve paid attention it is obvious they rigged the network to wait about 1 minute before it completely drops the call even after you have totally lost the conversation, so most people just hang up, thus not having to count it as a dropped call), and about improving their network… all of it, ALL of it, has been horse shit! No reception in my apartment. No reception around large parts of Harvard University! Again, if their network does not work, then I don’t care about their claimed data speeds.
I could understand changing the indicator to show “HSPA+” or even “3G+”, but to have it display anything else is false advertising. Yes, the other carriers are committing false advertising. I hope Apple will not stoop to that level.
That’s not incorrect, according to the International Telecommunications Union:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/1…
When I was referring to the “pedants” I meant that the technical definition of 4G requires a completely IP based protocol, which LTE no longer is. So even when the world is blanketed by LTE everywhere, technically, it won’t necessarily be 4G. My point therefore is that the term “4G” is already hopelessly poisoned and worthless.
HSPA has elements required to be called 4G that were set in place by the industry standards. This is the reason it can be called 4G. Everyone who works on these systems knows this so we understand why. ATT is the only company to have a wide area of HSPA in the network so their going to get the fastest speeds from the 4S. Verizon and all the other carriers do not have the same equipment type so the will be runing lower speeds. I will go with ATT as my choice of carrier for the 4S.