5G

It’s been a long time since Apple has been working on its own 5G modem. However, development is taking much longer than the company expected – but recent evidence suggests that we’ll see Apple’s first 5G modem next year. Read on as we detail everything we know so far about it.

The US Commerce Department is carrying out an investigation into whether Apple chipmaker TSMC breached US sanctions against China by supplying smartphone and AI chips to Huawei. The probe was in part driven by Huawei’s surprising ability to resume competing with iPhones.

Update: A new report today says that TSMC reported itself to the US government based on its own suspicions about an order.

Since iPhone 14, Apple has been pushing eSIM-only versions to customers in the US. And although the company did the same with new Cellular iPads earlier this year, the eSIM-only iPhone 16 models with 5G mmWave are still only available in the US.

Apple’s years-long effort to replace Qualcomm’s 5G modems with its own chips is nearing an end. Previously, Ming-Chi Kuo has indicated Apple’s first in-house 5G modems will debut in select 2025 iPhones. Today, he shares his expectation for Apple’s expansion plans in the years ahead.

Ookla is out with its latest report with the new data focused on how fast 5G SA connections are in the US and other countries. Here’s a look at the median speeds, how much they’ve improved since 2023, and how they compare to overall 5G performance.

Apple has been working on its own cellular modems for years, with little to show for it. But according to Ming-Chi Kuo, it seems the company is finally ready to move its 5G chips in-house in 2025.

Included with iOS is the capability for iPhone to use T-Mobile’s 5G Standalone coverage in the US (in addition to other carriers globally). The option can offer speeds as fast speeds 3 Gbps using the power of carrier aggregation. Here’s how to make sure 5G Standalone is turned on with iPhone and how to verify your cellular connection stats.

Ookla has published its 5G in the US report today showing how the major carriers compare for download and upload speeds, video and gaming performance, and more. Here’s how much faster T-Mobile 5G performed than Verizon and AT&T. However, Verizon is catching up.

On the heels of adding a second tier to its 5G Home Internet in April, T-Mobile has launched another option for those who want a reliable internet backup at an affordable price. T-Mobile Home Internet Backup goes from as low as $20/month for 130GB of 5G data.

An upcoming AT&T satellite service promises to bring satellite comms to the iPhone 12 and 13 for the first time. Unlike Apple’s Emergency SOS via Satellite service, it will support phone calls as well as text messages.

As such, it will offer more functionality to more people than the Apple satellite comms feature, but there are a number of unanswered questions …

Comcast is out with some new prepaid connectivity offerings today. The new internet plans are simple and affordable with speeds up to 200 Mbps for home internet and unlimited 5G data for the mobile plans. Meanwhile, NOW TV includes access to 40+ networks for live and on-demand content.

T-Mobile has announced the expansion of its 5G Home Internet with a premium tier for the standard service plus a new “Away” plan for those who need a reliable connection on the go without having to rely on a traditional hotspot.

5G cellular service expanded significantly across the US carriers in the last couple of years and works with iPhone 12-15, and SE 3. Apple uses a “5G Auto” setting as the default that aims to give users a balance between network speed and battery life. But you can also manage the settings manually to optimize for what you need in a given moment. Follow along for how to turn 5G on/off on iPhone.

T-Mobile has shared the results of its latest 5G network test today and the Uncarrier says it’s broken another record. A novel network technology called Uplink Transmit (UL Tx) switching that runs on 5G SA is expected to expand T-Mobile’s “5G superhighway” with “new faster lanes with spare capacity for traffic to zoom faster than ever.”

Apple announced last year that it would extend its agreement with Qualcomm to continue using the company’s 5G modems until 2026. However, as Apple’s plans to build its own modems have been thwarted, it will continue to use Qualcomm’s modems in the iPhone until 2027 at least.

T-Mobile is out with its newest 5G internet offering today. “Connected Workplace” aims to deliver a seamless business solution that includes fast performance, Cisco Meraki devices, a cloud-managed networking platform, 24/7 support, and more.

Verizon and T-Mobile have continued their 5G home internet investments across 2023. Now, Ookla is out with its latest independent report looking at how performance has increased for download and upload speeds as well as how the services compare in urban and rural areas.

T-Mobile has been making impressive progress on carrier aggregation 5G SA over the last couple of years. Without mmWave, it has hit up to 3.3 Gbps download speeds. Now the Uncarrier says using mmWave, its 5G SA can deliver a whopping 4.3 Gbps for download performance.

A sketchy report claims that plans to design an in-house Apple 5G modem chip have been abandoned, after the company struggled to make progress with the project.

It follows a series of reports describing the challenges faced by the company, including one which suggested that the project was proving a “spectacular failure” …

Apple has been trying to develop its own 5G modems to replace the Qualcomm radio chips currently used in the iPhone. However, even after years of development, the company has struggled to achieve good results with its in-house developed chips. According to a new report by Bloomberg, Apple will miss its goal of finalizing its first 5G modem in time for the 2025 iPhones.