Apple jumpstarting 6G development with new hires

Unsurprising, but also surprising. 5G isn’t even of particular significance right now. I keep 5G off on my iPhone 12 Pro to save battery because there is currently no gain from using 5G.

I know technologies are developed well before they become useful, but I feel like this charade is getting old. LTE never lived up to the potential in the US but they pushed into 5G. And 5G isn’t generally reaching LTE+ potential speeds (except for mmWave). Maybe 6G will live up to the promises of LTE+ :)

georgie01 said:

Unsurprising, but also surprising. 5G isn’t even of particular significance right now. I keep 5G off on my iPhone 12 Pro to save battery because there is currently no gain from using 5G.

I know technologies are developed well before they become useful, but I feel like this charade is getting old. LTE never lived up to the potential in the US but they pushed into 5G. And 5G isn’t generally reaching LTE+ potential speeds (except for mmWave). Maybe 6G will live up to the promises of LTE+ :)

5G has been seriously overhyped to the point of ridiculousness. All of the so-called advanced features of 5G are literally years away from being useful. Right now the ONLY feature of 5G being advertised ad nauseam is its supposed speed but that is being called into question too. The main reason carriers have jumped on the bandwagon is that they get to charge more for 5G service and the public buys into it.

And again, today, right now, what advantage is 5G to cellphone users? Not tomorrow, not next year, today. Why should I pay extra for 5G service at this point?

georgie01 said:

Unsurprising, but also surprising. 5G isn’t even of particular significance right now. I keep 5G off on my iPhone 12 Pro to save battery because there is currently no gain from using 5G.

I know technologies are developed well before they become useful, but I feel like this charade is getting old. LTE never lived up to the potential in the US but they pushed into 5G. And 5G isn’t generally reaching LTE+ potential speeds (except for mmWave). Maybe 6G will live up to the promises of LTE+ :)

The problem isn’t technology, it’s the way spectrum is auctioned off in the US: it only requires deployment/coverage, it doesn’t mandate services quality. And as such TelCos make cells as big as possible to reach the contractually mandated coverage, and then only improve service quality when and where absolutely necessary.
As a result people are stuck with crowded cells with sub-par performance.

Other jurisdictions set not only coverage but also service quality standards, as part of the frequency auctions; if telcos don’t meet both, they forfeit spectrum for which they paid a lot of money. That properly incentivizes them to actually live up much better to the promise of a technology.

Similar issues with road construction: in many jurisdictions a company bidding for building a road has to warrantee it for a certain amount of time, e.g. a decade. If it doesn’t hold up and requires maintenance, the company must provide it free of charge (and likely has to be insured to prevent shell companies from conveniently going out of business after construction is done). At least in many US jurisdictions the company with the lowest bid gets the job, no warranties required. Correspondingly shoddy/cheap is the road construction, with a few years later already having cracks and potholes all over.

In short: Blame the political process, not technology…

georgie01 said:

Unsurprising, but also surprising. 5G isn’t even of particular significance right now. I keep 5G off on my iPhone 12 Pro to save battery because there is currently no gain from using 5G.

I know technologies are developed well before they become useful, but I feel like this charade is getting old. LTE never lived up to the potential in the US but they pushed into 5G. And 5G isn’t generally reaching LTE+ potential speeds (except for mmWave). Maybe 6G will live up to the promises of LTE+ :)

I have surprisingly excellent AT&T 5G coverage in my area with speeds that far exceed what I was seeing with LTE. So much so that I am using the tethering functionality more often.

While I haven't done a controlled study to see if it affects battery life, my 12 Pro has plenty of juice left at the end of the day and I would never bother to turn off the 5G radio.

rcfa said:

georgie01 said:

Unsurprising, but also surprising. 5G isn’t even of particular significance right now. I keep 5G off on my iPhone 12 Pro to save battery because there is currently no gain from using 5G.

I know technologies are developed well before they become useful, but I feel like this charade is getting old. LTE never lived up to the potential in the US but they pushed into 5G. And 5G isn’t generally reaching LTE+ potential speeds (except for mmWave). Maybe 6G will live up to the promises of LTE+ :)

The problem isn’t technology, it’s the way spectrum is auctioned off in the US: it only requires deployment/coverage, it doesn’t mandate services quality. And as such TelCos make cells as big as possible to reach the contractually mandated coverage, and then only improve service quality when and where absolutely necessary.
As a result people are stuck with crowded cells with sub-par performance.

Other jurisdictions set not only coverage but also service quality standards, as part of the frequency auctions; if telcos don’t meet both, they forfeit spectrum for which they paid a lot of money. That properly incentivizes them to actually live up much better to the promise of a technology.

Similar issues with road construction: in many jurisdictions a company bidding for building a road has to warrantee it for a certain amount of time, e.g. a decade. If it doesn’t hold up and requires maintenance, the company must provide it free of charge (and likely has to be insured to prevent shell companies from conveniently going out of business after construction is done). At least in many US jurisdictions the company with the lowest bid gets the job, no warranties required. Correspondingly shoddy/cheap is the road construction, with a few years later already having cracks and potholes all over.

In short: Blame the political process, not technology…

Blame whomever you want, the result is the same. 5G is useless at this point in time and paying your carrier extra for it is a waste of money in my opinion as you get absolutely no bang for your buck. But that’s how marketing works when the promised wow factor isn’t there yet. And it’s why the Fandroids proudly proclaim they had 5G first. So what?