So is iPhone 4S capable of 4G or not?

[smokey982]

I was hoping someone could clarify whether the 4S is capable of 4G speeds or not. When you look at AT&T's website it list the 4S as a 4G phone. But according to apple's website it says it's capable of speeds at 14.4 Mbps. Isn't 4G much faster than that? Is there a difference in the 4S phones from Verizon and AT&T? I have a family member that just purchased a new 4S (AT&T) and it has 4G on the top left hand corner of the screen. Which compared to my iPhone 4 shows 3G (AT&T also) in the top left hand corner.

 

[isaacmorseMI]

It is capable of HSPA+ on AT&T, but not LTE.

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[smokey982]

It is capable of HSPA+ on AT&T, but not LTE.

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So for the phone terminology idiots like myself. What's the difference? And would the Verizon version be faster?

 

[isaacmorseMI]

So for the phone terminology idiots like myself. What's the difference? And would the Verizon version be faster?

HSPA+ is basically a slightly faster version of 3G, LTE is actually considered 4G. The AT&T one would be faster if HSPA+ is availible in your area, but not as fast as Verizon or AT&T Android phones that have LTE.

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[smokey982]

HSPA+ is basically a slightly faster version of 3G, LTE is actually considered 4G. The AT&T one would be faster if HSPA+ is availible in your area, but not as fast as Verizon or AT&T Android phones that have LTE.

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So Verizon is strictly 3G? No HSPA+ for Verizon? Any rumors that the next iPhone will have LTE capabilities?

 

[Neutron]

The Verizon iPhone 4S only does 2G and 3G.

 

[isaacmorseMI]

So Verizon is strictly 3G? No HSPA+ for Verizon? Any rumors that the next iPhone will have LTE capabilities?

Yes. Strictly 3G. There are strong rumors that the next one will have LTE (considering it was in the iPad 3).

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[jcrandall]

I have an AT&T 4S with the HSPA+, I think of it as 3.5G... It is about twice the speed of what I had with my iphone 4, but it is slower than LTE. After using AT&T HSPA+ iphone 4s, and a friends Verizon LTE Android phone in their 4G area, the speed of browsing websites was quite comparable. I'm sure the LTE would probably download faster, but I didn't notice a significant difference.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

There is no set definition of what 4G is, so any company can call any of their services 4G and get away with it.

I don't consider AT&T's service on an iPhone 4S to be 4G in any way even if it is at times a hair faster then verizon.

 

[Pepper]

4G used to mean something until the marketing guys figured out they can make it mean whatever they want.

Until AT&T figures out how to deliver decent reliable service it don't matter how many "G" it has.

 

[dangue]

There is no set definition of what 4G is, so any company can call any of their services 4G and get away with it.

I don't consider AT&T's service on an iPhone 4S to be 4G in any way even if it is at times a hair faster then verizon.

There is a set definition, the problem is that the people responsible for setting the standard broadened it to include connections types that fall short of the original definition of 4G. Once that happened, the wireless companies began touting their 4G phones and networks that suddenly met the new definition of the standard.

 

[TheForce]

Agree that use of 4G doesn't tell you anything. You have LTE for wide area and wifi (which is limited range) and then there are the slow connections for all things wireless. I'm calling slow as any that can't do HDTV streaming without buffering often a slow connection.

 

[yourbeliefs]

I call it "Faux G" or 3.5G. The next iPhone will have LTE. If that's a big thing for you just wait for the iPhone 5.

 

[mperdue]

As dangue pointed out, the standards organization has broadened the use of the term 4G to include LTE and HSPA+ as neither of them previously qualified. Deal with it...

 

[digiblur]

HSPA+ is basically a slightly faster version of 3G, LTE is actually considered 4G. The AT&T one would be faster if HSPA+ is availible in your area, but not as fast as Verizon or AT&T Android phones that have LTE.

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Actually LTE Advanced is only 4g. Regular LTE like Verizon has, is not advanced either.

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[Peter Parker]

So Verizon is strictly 3G? No HSPA+ for Verizon? Any rumors that the next iPhone will have LTE capabilities?

When it comes to the iphone you can find any rumor you want.

 

[Hall]

I have a family member that just purchased a new 4S (AT&T) and it has 4G on the top left hand corner of the screen. Which compared to my iPhone 4 shows 3G (AT&T also) in the top left hand corner.

Until a few weeks ago (or more, not exactly sure), your relative's same phone had a "3G" icon in that spot. Magically -- we are talking Apple here -- an update was pushed out that changed it from 3G to 4G. By magically, I mean the appearance was supposed to be that the phone is all of a sudden 4G-capable.

 

[Pepper]

"Magic" is right. I can tell you I've run speedtests on my iPhone 4 and my wife's iPhone 4S simultaneously, mine on "3G" and hers on "4G" - not a nickel's worth of difference in the speeds, in fact sometimes her "4G" is slower than my "3G."

 

[digiblur]

<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?p=2889872" target="_blank">Originally Posted by smokey982</a><br />
So Verizon is strictly 3G? No HSPA+ for Verizon? Any rumors that the next iPhone will have LTE capabilities?

<br />
<br />
When it comes to the iphone you can find any rumor you want.

Of course it will have LTE soon. The iPhone is always playing catchup in its hardware. Kind of the reason they are so sue happy with everyone. Can't beat the competition so sue the pants off them. It's starting to blow up in their face though as people are getting fed up with old tech and looking for all the new bells and whistles.

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[CK SatGuy]

I call it "Faux G" or 3.5G. The next iPhone will have LTE. If that's a big thing for you just wait for the iPhone 5.

Just curious. Wouldn't it be called iphone 6 now since the 4S was the fifth iphone?