mmWave 5G

Despite some rumours that Apple planned a 4G LTE only version of the iPhone 12, at this point, every report agrees that Apple’s entire iPhone 12 lineup will gain 5G technology, although so far analysts have only been able to agree that it will be sub-6GHz 5G across the board.

In fact, if we had to guess, we’d say that this is what the “Hi, Speed” tagline for the event is actually hinting at since faster iPhones aren’t really news, but faster cellular technology most certainly is.

However, support for the faster mmWave 5G has been a bigger question mark, with some reports suggesting that power and antenna limitations could mean Apple can only fit it into the larger iPhone 12 Pro Max, while veteran analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is more often right about these things than not, has repeatedly maintained that Apple is making mmWave 5G versions of every one of its four iPhone 12 models.

To be clear, however, that doesn’t mean that every iPhone 12 that Apple sells will be mmWave capable. Apple has reportedly still had some struggles in producing the 5G antenna modules, and frankly, the vast majority of the world’s carriers haven’t rolled out mmWave support yet anyway. Most analysts agree that mmWave 5G iPhones will only be available in those countries — and on those carriers — that actually offer mmWave 5G support, while everybody else will get the sub-6GHz versions, regardless of model, which may be disappointing for those who were hoping to be ready for the future of even faster 5G speeds.