Quote:
Originally Posted by Mindz
I haven't read this thread, but
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
First of all, the phone can handle 3.5G, but the network is still a 3G network for now.
Secondly, the AT&T network won't be unpgraded to 3.5G until late 2011, early 2012, so you'll be waiting all that time just to use the full potential of this phone.
Thirdly, by that time, there will be 4G networks out there...
DON'T BUY THE HYPE!!! |
The 7.2MBPS antenna is only a minor part of the upgraded model, and actually AT&T is CURRENTLY deploying their 7.2mbps HSPA network, with the expected COMPLETION (meaning their entire WCDMA network will be upgraded) by late 2011.
LTE aka "4G" as every carrier with the exception of Sprint is going with that standard is a long ways off it would seem. Verizon plans to start overlaying their network with LTE in 2012. Keep in mind that LTE represents an ENTIRE new network construction. It's not like the upgrade from AT&T's current 3.6mbps to 7.2mbps HSPA, which is merely a software upgrade allowing users to simultaneously use more data channels. Not only that, but there still isn't an accepted standard for VOICE over LTE. Sure, you could use it exclusively as a data network, but pretty much every carrier has fairly limited capacity (again, with the exception of Sprint. Losing a million customers per financial quarter has freed up their airwaves a bit), and with expansion into new markets and more intensive uses of their networks as more people migrate to mobile phones from landlines, companies want LTE to support voice right off the bat, and if the standard has to bend too much to support voice, certain carriers may even have to purchase new radio equipment, and early devices featuring LTE may STOP being able to utilize the LTE network, which would be a HUGE fiasco.
And, again, LTE is a COMPLETELY different standard. Verizon uses CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM which is based on TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access). HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA are all software evolved forms of a technology called UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunication System), which is based on WCDMA (Wideband CDMA). AT&T and T-Mobile are literally building out entire SECOND networks for their 3G standards, and EVERY carrier is doing the same for their 4G standards. LTE doesn't use EITHER CDMA or TDMA variants, it uses OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing). It's not going to be an easy buildout, by ANY stretch of the imagination, and frankly I think by the end of 2014-2015 you may see AT&T and Verizon have about 10 cities each active with LTE with one or two devices featuring it, which will probably be data cards. Think about this: How many of you knew what the hell 3G was when carriers started rolling it out five years ago? It's JUST NOW prevalent, and for two of the carriers (Sprint and Verizon) they were using completely native upgrade paths that only required software at the base station.
Sorry for the amazingly long and technical rant, but the 7.2mbps antenna is probably the BEST reason to purchase the new iPhone, because even though the network isn't active now, once AT&T starts rolling it out, they can literally get entire COUNTIES running in the time frame of a few days. THAT buildout will be INCREDIBLY fast, especially because AT&T needs it to relieve the pressure on their network.
The main reason for the "S" is actually processing speed, not network speed.
Edit: And, yes, I agree that it's a pretty much pointless upgrade. 99.99999999999% of iPhone users wouldn't ever notice the difference between UMTS and the current variant of HSPA that the 3G sported, and frankly, while video editing is kinda neat, it's software, and most people would rather do it on a computer anyway. Oh, and video capture definitely should have been in the FIRST revision iPhone two years ago, right along side MMS.