ABI Thinks that Apple's iPhones Failed to Adopt Verizon and New High-End Wireless Standards
A new report out today by ABI Research notes that Apple's new iPhone's still don't support Verizon's SVLTE or SVDO wireless variants as their other phone partners do. Yet the only one complaining thus far publically is ABI – unless of course, they're airing Verizon's complaints for them. ABI was apparently on a mission to put the iPhone in a poor light which is rather odd for a research company.
ABI further pointed out that Apple skimped on upgrading the iPhone to LTE-Advanced which contradicted ABI's mid-year research. Admittedly, that was a miss that some consumers may have wanted. Yet many times these upgrades are better looking on paper than they are in real-world experiences.
The last complaint was that Apple didn't upgrade to the new 802.11ac. While Apple did adopt it for the MacBook Air, they did skip it for the iPhone. I recently asked my local cable company if they had new home wireless modems supporting the new standard and the answer was a solid "no" with absolutely no idea as to when the upgrade would even occur. So this could be the reality on the ground for many in North America. Yes it's the latest and greatest and I'm sure that Apple's iPhone 6 will support it, but for 2013 it may not have been a priority.
Besides ABI, are there any real iPhone users out there that are actually upset with Apple's wireless standard choices for the iPhone 5S or 5C? If you are, send in your comments.
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The problem with SVLTE is it requires two radios, one stays on LTE for data and another on CDMA for voice. It's actually a "hack" to support voice until the _carriers_ (not Apple) have their networks ready for real Voice over LTE, since it requires more advanced VoIP tech (to send voice and data over the same LTE channel, as it should be).
It might happen next year, maybe, if carriers get their collective heads out of their behinds.
For obvious battery consumption and size reasons Apple isn't interested in putting and operating two radios on the iPhone.
Posted by: John S | October 11, 2013 at 04:22 AM