iPhone 12 will be released next week, but 5G in the US won't work at all

Apple announced in the early morning of October 7 that it will hold a global press conference at 1 a.m. Beijing time on October 14. This will be Apple’s second autumn press conference this year. It is reported that Apple will release the long-awaited new generation of iPhone "iPhone 12" at that time.

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"5G" will be the core topic of this conference and one of the main selling points of iPhone 12. Compared with the current 4G LTE technology, 5G will make the download speed of iPhone cellular network many times faster.

But in some developed markets such as the United States, 5G network coverage is still limited.

As the three major mobile operators in the United States, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile US have not yet launched a "real" 5G network, that is, they have not yet launched a truly high-speed or widely covered 5G service.

If these companies don't significantly upgrade their networks soon, many consumers who buy the latest iPhones may find that the iPhone 12's key features become bland.

In the first half of this year, RootMetrics, a unit of research firm IHS Markit, tested 5G networks in 125 regions in the United States. The test found that AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint's 5G networks were only slightly faster than 4G LTE.

Both AT&T and T-Mobile claim that their 5G networks have "national coverage," meaning they cover the country's 200 million people. But in reality, their 5G network coverage is still spotty, and data speeds aren't always fast.

Verizon's 5G network, which uses millimeter wave technology, is much faster but only available in parts of 36 cities, and because of the frequency, the signal deteriorates quickly.

Of course, Verizon is expected to announce the launch of 5G service across the U.S. as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter. In addition, T-Mobile has also recently touted speed increases.

Data from research firm Strategy Analytics shows that in the first quarter of this year, mobile phone manufacturers led by Samsung shipped 3.4 million 5G mobile phones in the United States, accounting for only a small part of the entire market.

In contrast, 5G has performed much better in several other countries. According to data from another research company, Counterpoint Research, in the second quarter of this year, 5G phones accounted for one-third of all mobile phones sold in the Chinese market.

Regarding the fall launch conference next Wednesday, there have been reports recently that Apple will release four new iPhones, namely iPhone 12 Mini (5.4 inches), iPhone 12 (6.1 inches), iPhone 12 Pro (6.1 inches) and iPhone 12 Pro Max (6.7 inches), with starting prices of US$699, US$799, US$999 and US$1099 respectively.