iPhone X Band 71

[George Knighton]

It is only the beginning of April, and Band 71 has rolled out across a wide area, improving data throughput and voice coverage across a wide area.

For whatever one dumb old man's opinion is worth, not covering Band 71 on either Qualcomm or Intel versions of the iPhone X is going to cause a lot of Apple loyalists to feel very tempted by the new batches of devices that are rolling out ahead of the Fall Apple rollout.

At the time, I suspected that Apple did not understand the importance of Band 71 and that it might arrive sooner than Apple was saying, and here we are.

 

[pika2000]

First iPhone was 2G only, when even feature phones during that time are already on 3G.
Apple was also quite late to the LTE game, and the first LTE iPhone 5 only supports US-centric bands.

So I don't see why Apple should be on the forefront in supporting a specific LTE band for one single carrier in one country.

 

[eyoungren]

Apple is always late. Design of phones and devices are locked in early and dependent upon various component manufacturers.

Anyone hoping that Apple stays up with the carriers is in for constant disappointment. Expecting the same is crazy because Apple doesn't do that.

But Apple does promote it's own features that other manufacturers follow.

So it's a choice.

If you want to be on the train that comes up with perfected features such as Touch ID, FaceID and so on that the other manufacturers follow then stay with Apple.

If you want to be on the train that makes all the stops at the most broadly used technology and follows the lead of the carriers then stay with Android.

 

[Strelok]

First iPhone was 2G only, when even feature phones during that time are already on 3G.
Apple was also quite late to the LTE game, and the first LTE iPhone 5 only supports US-centric bands.

So I don't see why Apple should be on the forefront in supporting a specific LTE band for one single carrier in one country.

Apple started late, but their phones have since supported way more LTE bands than most others. It might have changed in recent years, but a Samsung Galaxy on Verizon often only had lte support for Verizon bands, while iPhones since the 5S have supported a ton of bands on each model.
I think it was the 5 that later added a T-Mobile specific version with support for band 4.

 

[teeshot44]

Don't pick on just Apple. Looking at T-Mobile's map of Band 71 current deployment, why would Apple or anyone else feel it's of importance for such a small segment of the population? Last I looked, Samsung was the only major manufacturer to support 71.

 

[George Knighton]

Don't pick on just Apple. Looking at T-Mobile's map of Band 71 current deployment, why would Apple or anyone else feel it's of importance for such a small segment of the population? Last I looked, Samsung was the only major manufacturer to support 71.

The LG V30 was the first device I'm aware of that supported Band 71.

Be careful looking at maps.

The key is in the populations affected.

Band 71 has rolled out in the NoVA/DC area, which potentially improves data throughput for millions of people, and extending that coverage into the Home Counties has allowed the same for people who work in the Metro area but who prefer to live in a rural environment.

The map mightn't look like much, but in numbers of subscribers, T-Mobile has done a big service.

 

[pika2000]

Apple started late, but their phones have since supported way more LTE bands than most others. It might have changed in recent years, but a Samsung Galaxy on Verizon often only had lte support for Verizon bands, while iPhones since the 5S have supported a ton of bands on each model.
I think it was the 5 that later added a T-Mobile specific version with support for band 4.

Apple does that to streamline their manufacturing since they tend not to like too many SKUs for the same model.
This is in contrast with the rest of phone manufacturers, where it is normal to have many different region specific SKUs. It's just they way they have been doing their business, and Apple's way.

But as for supporting new things, Apple is not usually the first, so this is not really a revelation for Apple.