Slash Lane
Apple will only allow a carrier to offer the iPhone 5 on their LTE network after the company conducts its own tests of the wireless service, one carrier has revealed.
Apple's strict quality control methods were revealed to Telecoms.com (via The Next Web) by a spokesperson for Swisscom. They indicated that Apple will only enable 4G LTE access on the iPhone 5 after testing the device on a carrier's live, working network.
Swisscom launched its LTE 4G network this week, but Apple's iPhone 5 is not yet able to run on the carrier's network. That's because Apple must push out an update enabling the LTE connectivity.
Apple is expected to provide users of Swisscom with a software update to enable LTE connectivity in "due course," but a timeframe has not yet been given.
The strict control maintained by Apple "shocked" Bengt Nordstrom, head of an industry consultancy group named NorthStream. In a conversation with Telecoms.com, he said carriers' willingness to concede such control to Apple shows "who is running the industry."
Apple gave the press and members of the public a glimpse at its extensive retesting testing process in 2010 in response to the so-called "antenna-gate" that surrounded the launch of the iPhone 4. In a video posted on its website, Apple showed off an inside look at its antenna design and test labs, while members of the press were also given a tour of the facilities.
"Apple has invested more than $100 million building its advanced antenna design and test labs," the company said in 2010. "Our engineers have logged thousands of hours designing and testing iPhone 4 in these state-of-the-art facilities."
While Apple has shown its extensive in-house testing, the information from Swisscom shows that the company also takes seriously its carrier partners' ability to offer customers the expected level of performance from their LTE networks.
Charles Martin
Christine McKee
Oliver Haslam
William Gallagher
33 Comments
Makes me wonder if they've disabled LTE on my 5 as there is no LTE where I live, apart from a small testing area. Fortunately the license has been auctioned in the end of October, but that doesn't mean we'll get LTE in the next couple o' months. Especially considering our crappy telcos over here in The Netherlands.
As opposed to manufacturers of Android phones which could care less about the quality of their product and are more concerned with market share.
I can't image Apple not doing this testing. If they promise certain functionality, and put it in their advertising, guess who gets sued if the functionality they promised isn't available? Apple has lost several legal suits just on this point just this year. Then Apple has a contract with the providers, and I would suspect the providers must deliver what they promised to Apple under their contract. Again, due diligence says test and verify. Apple has also experienced less than ideal performance on some providers' network. Best for Apple to verify and/or discover and fix before having to deal with the downside of their iPhone not performing up to standards.
Ironically their "quality control" is so great there are still scuffed up iphone 5s being sold. I love apple but c'mon
So. The carriers are shocked that they're not in the driver's seat? After years of creating their own walled stores, branded services, locked down SIM cards, limited firmware updates, and custom phones preloaded with carrier-specific shovelware, they're shocked that Apple is raising the bar and requiring them to live up to it?