The US version of iPhone 17 is still different

The new US-spec iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max models support 5G mmWave. Photo: Gizmodo .

5G millimeter wave (mmWave) technology has been “exclusive” to the US version of the iPhone since Apple launched it in 2020. 5G mmWave is also gradually becoming more popular in countries like Australia, China, Korea, Japan and some European countries. But the non-US versions of the iPhone have not yet received a hardware update for this connection standard.

The reason could be that mmWave bands are not as practical as lower-band, more widely deployed 5G bands around the world . It also comes with high costs for both carriers and terminal manufacturers.

5G mmWave uses very high frequency bands, from 24 GHz and above, with short wavelengths. Therefore, it brings fast data transmission speeds, low latency and the ability to connect many devices at the same time.

However, short wavelengths have relatively poor coverage and have difficulty penetrating obstacles. Walls, glass, even trees or human bodies can degrade connection quality.

As a result, mmWave requires high base station density for terminals to have a direct “line of sight” to the base station, which entails large investment costs for carriers. Phone manufacturers like Apple will also have to spend more money to integrate hardware that supports mmWave.

Carriers don't want to deploy mmWave 5G without a lot of devices supporting it, and Apple doesn't see the need to bring mmWave to low-usage markets.

In fact, 5G using sub-6 GHz frequency band is popular because it works well in both urban, suburban and rural areas. In most markets including Vietnam, iPhone with 5G mmWave compatibility does not bring benefits to users because the telecommunications infrastructure does not support it.

Unless there’s a major shift in the way 5G is deployed globally, it’s unlikely that Apple will change its stance on mmWave. To date, the iPad Pro M4 models have completely dropped mmWave 5G support, sticking to sub-6GHz 5G modems.

Likewise, the iPhone Air with Apple's in-house designed C1X modem does not support mmWave 5G. Like the C1, the C1X modem is only compatible with sub-6GHz 5G.

In addition, the iPhone 17 series also supports the latest Wi-Fi 7 standard, while many flagship models only offer up to 6e. In Vietnam, users can also experience Wi-Fi 7 provided byFPT network, with a maximum speed of 10 Gbps.

Source: https://znews.vn/iphone-17-ban-my-van-khac-biet-post1585663.html