5G has finally landed in the Apple ecosystem, specifically in the iPhone. In this article we tell you the main characteristics that you should know to understand how the use of this type of connectivity can benefit you on a day-to-day basis.
Compatible Devices
For an iPhone to have a 5G connection, you need specific hardware that can support that wave frequency. That is why somewhat old computers will not be able to connect to this type of network through a simple software update. Today Apple has the following iPhone with 5G compatibility:
- iPhone 12.
- iPhone 12 mini.
- iPhone 12 Pro.
- iPhone 12 Pro Max.
In addition to having a compatible iPhone, a mobile plan that has the 5G option activated is also required, something that very specific telephone operators offer.
Different types of 5G
It should be known that there are different types of 5G connections and none of them look alike. The main difference that exists in each of the types is undoubtedly the speed of downloading and uploading information. The connection that you have at any given time is represented by an icon in the upper left part of the device. The 3 types of 5G connection found are the following:
- ‘Normal’ 5G – Typical 5G connection that will be generally available in all countries when infrastructure is available.
- 5G + – Higher frequency version of 5G offered by the carrier. With this connection you would be approaching the appropriate speeds that 5G offers.
- 5G UW – The highest frequency version out there. It takes advantage of mmWave technology and is quite limited to specific parts of the world.
The problem that arises is the need to have the necessary infrastructure to take advantage of 5G connectivity. Many regions lack the possibility of having basic 5G coverage and the rest of the frequencies are much more spread out. In the case of 5G UW, it can only be used in the US with operators that have reached an agreement with Apple and only using the iPhone 12 Pro that have mmWave.
Advantages of 5G connectivity
5G coverage is undoubtedly a breakthrough in telecommunications. In general, with an iPhone 5G you can download files much faster wherever you are. This is useful in the event that you have to work with the cloud to download a rather heavy document or multimedia file. Regarding entertainment, an improvement will also be noticed since movies and series can be downloaded much more quickly or viewed online with the guarantee that there will not be many cuts thanks to the reliability of 5G. To give you an idea, the operators guarantee a speed that would reach up to 10 GBps, a speed that is 10 times higher than that offered by fiber optics in general.
In addition to downloading files, the reduced latency that 5G connectivity will have could be ideal for performing different tasks in real time. Drive an autonomous car from your mobile or direct any type of equipment without having physical contact, only online. In addition, remote work will also be guaranteed of its best quality by not having any type of latency, being able to connect to any computer and work without any inconvenience or delay.
The drawbacks of 5G
Unfortunately the 5G connectivity is not perfect and it also has some drawbacks. The main one is its high energy consumption, since by constantly downloading at high speed, the autonomy of the iPhone can be significantly reduced. To provide a solution, Apple offers the possibility of activating automatic 5G. In this way, the iPhone will activate the 5G network only when necessary, such as when downloading a document from iCloud or connecting remotely to other devices. In all other situations, it will be in LTE coverage in order to save battery. This is something interesting, since it is not always necessary to have a high internet speed in order to reduce battery consumption.
In order to view all these options, you must follow the route Settings> Mobile data> Options> Voice and Data. Here you can choose between 5G on, 5G automatic and LTE.
Obviously, the other negative characteristic is undoubtedly the high consumption of mobile data of the contracted rate. Obviously, by downloading in a much faster way and having high-quality content that weighs much more MB available, the data you have contracted will diminish quickly. For this, Apple allows you to reduce the quality of different services in the event that you do not want to consume a lot of data. In general, 5G allows you to make a high-quality FaceTime, high definition content on Apple TV, songs and videos from Apple Music and iOS updates through mobile data. This is what is achieved with a standard 5G configuration, but you can have a ‘standard’ experience to adjust all this content to a normal quality. In this case there is no feature that is automatic and in which the iPhone itself decides what to do, having to decide for yourself the experience you want.