The new iPad brings with it the option for a new, dual radio that brings with it 72Mbps LTE on AT&T and Verizon in the US and Rogers, Telus, and Bell in Canada. Sadly, there's no international LTE support for Australia, Asia, or Europe yet, perhaps due to the differences in LTE segments around the world. However, the new iPad also brings a new 42Mbps HSPA+ radio for AT&T, Canadian, and international carriers that support it. (Technically dual 21Mbps HSPA+ radios.) Those are theoretical speeds though -- what you get in a lab when alone, sitting on top of a tower. In the real world we're often lucky to see half the theoretical speeds, and often considerably less. That's why we put them to the test.

New iPad radios specs

The new iPad supports the following cellular radio frequencies:

• 4G LTE at 700, 2100 MHz (Verizon model at 700 Mhz only)
• UMTS/HSPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA at 850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz
• GSM/EDGE at 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz
• CDMA EV-DO Rev. A at 800, 1900 MHz

New iPad LTE and HSPA+ speed tests

LTE is a powerhouse, likely faster than many home broadband connections. HSPA+ is no slouch either when it comes to downloads, though uploads are disappointing.

I took the new iPad out to a local coffee shop to see what type of real-world results I could get. The first thing I did was load up the SpeedTest.net app [free - Download now] app and run it 3 times on LTE to make sure I was getting consistent results. I've gotten close to 50Mbps before, both with an LTE stick and with the new iPad on launch day, but these tests had me hitting almost 30Mbps down and over 10Mbps up consistently. (On 2 bars of LTE, for whatever that's worth.)

You can quickly turn off LTE with a flip of a toggle switch in Settings, and the handoff is extremely smooth and quick -- the LTE indicator goes off and the 3G (or 4G on AT&T... sigh) comes on. I repeated the same test 3 times, and averaged around 15Mbps down and 0.75Mbps up. I've only ever gotten between 5 and 8Mbps down on the iPad 2 or iPhone 4S, so that new HSPA+ down (HSPDA) really is much faster. The upload speed really wasn't great though. (On 4 bars of HSPA+.)

Now switching back from HSPA+ to LTE has proven to be a problem for me. I don't know if it's because I have really strong 3G and really weak LTE, so once the radio gets a taste of that stronger signal it won't let go, but even if I cycle LTE on and off, cellular data on and off, or Airplane Mode off or on, LTE just won't come back. All I can do is wait for a while (several minutes) for it to "find" LTE again, or power cycle and get it back after reboot.

(If you've tested the LTE to HSPA+ handoff, share your experience, so we can better figure it out.)

New iPad LTE and HSPA+ HD video test

After the reboot, I put the LTE radio to a more real-world test -- streaming the Avengers movie trailer in HD. (I could have gone with Prometheus but Avengers had a Hulk...) It worked flawlessly. The trailer began to play almost immediately and never once stopped or stuttered. The download indicator stayed well ahead of the play indicator the whole time. It was as good as being on Wi-Fi. Fast Wi-Fi.

HSPA+ didn't do nearly as well. The trailer started playing almost immediately but also came to a screeching halt almost immediately as well. The download indicator limped ahead, but at no time did it race the way LTE did.

Apple might send lower resolution or lower bit-rate video to slower connections, so I'm not sure HSPA+ was even taking the same load, but either way, it wasn't up to the task.

Like the previous tests, I repeated each 3 times for consistency, and also drove around and tried them in several other locations, though I haven't gotten more than 2 bars of LTE, and in some places I haven't been able to connect to LTE at all.

Conclusion

Overall, however, both the new LTE and the new HSPA+ antennas in the new iPad are impressive, the LTE most of all. If always connected, on-the-go internet is important to you, and you live, work, and travel to places with LTE coverage, you want this.

Addenda for Verizon LTE

Something to keep in mind for those considering the new iPad on Verizon LTE -- while the AT&T and Canadian LTE models fall back on the impressive (for downloads at least) HSPA+, the Verizon model falls back on the anemic EVDO Rev. A, which averages 2 or 3Mbps. I wouldn't even attempt to play an HD trailer over that. I'd wait to get back to Wi-Fi. It would probably take less time.

If you've updated your AT&T iPhone to iOS 5.1, you may have noticed that the signal indicator in the top-left now reads 4G instead of 3G. Now, before your mind gets blown all over the place, there's no actual upgrade here; it's just your garden-variety marketing doucherosity wriggling its slimy way into a software update.

AT&T could not possibly abide by competitors have more or higher-quality "Gs" than they do, so they've had Apple arbitrarily change the wording of the signal indicator. They've apparently been trying to do this for months, though why Apple caved is still hard to understand.

Of course, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has made it so that carriers can do this without repercussion. They're allowing HSPA+ 14.4 and faster networks to be called 4G right alongside 72mbps and faster LTE networks, and they've ruined any practical use of talking in terms of 3G or 4G networks; in fact, AT&T has already been taking plenty of advantage of this opportunity with Android devices.

Yes, as we joked and feared, AT&T has beaten Apple to create a 4G iPhone.

So welcome to the world of 4G, AT&T iPhone owners. Do you feel faster? Does simply seeing "4G" on your home screen make you feel more in the future?

Source: @ichadman

No sooner did Rene get his shiny new iPhone 4S than he put he through its 3G HSPA 14.4 Mbps data speed paces and... almost 9 Mbps down and just over 1 Mbps up in the real world on Rogers in Montreal. Not too shabby! Have you tested your iPhone 4S speeds yet? If so, let us know how fast, what network, and what area you're in!

As TiPb feared, This Is My Next says AT&T may indeed have plans to seize some competitive advantage over Verizon and Sprint by using a little faux 4G, just as they've been doing with Android for a while now.

the carrier is apparently “working with Apple” to change the indicator in theiPhone 4S (which tops out at 14.4Mbps, up from the iPhone 4′s 7.2Mbps) to show “4G” in the status bar as well.

Apple has a history of not allowing carriers to manipulate any aspects of the iPhone so hopefully AT&T won't get too far with this. Apple themselves don't even mentioned HSPA+ in their iPhone 4S specs, even though it technically qualifies as HSPA +. Likewise, Apple SVP of marketing, Phil Schiller mentioned during the Lets Talk iPhone keynote that Apple won't get into the business of determining what's true 4G and what isn't.

Given that Verizon and Sprint are only getting the same EV-DO rev A radio speeds as iPhone 4, it's easy to see why AT&T is pushing so hard. In fact, they've even put out a handy infographic to push the point:

Source: This Is My Next, AT&T PR

There were rumors the 2011 GSM/AT&T iPhone would have an HSPA+ radio for faster download speeds but when Apple announced the iPhone 4S, while they said it would do 14.4 mbps, they only listed it as an HSPA device.

Now, some are of the opinion that anything under 21 mbps should qualify as HSPA+, so iPhone 4S with only 14.4 mbps speed shouldn't qualify. However, 3GPP release 7 doesn't mandate that faster speeds are necessary to qualify as HSPA+ -- a device can support any 3GPP release 7 feature and still be classified as HSPA+. The Qualcomm chipset in iPhone 4S uses 3GPP features, and so it's an HSPA+ radio, speed be damned.

So while iPhone 4S did indeed get its HSPA+, it didn't get the 21 mbps or 42 mbps speed to go with it that many were hoping for. Also, Apple chose to neatly sidestep the whole 4G/fake 4G issue, so we won't open that can of worms here either.

Note: This applies only to the GSM/AT&T iPhone 4S. The CDMA/Verizon/Sprint iPhone 4S retains the same EV-DO rev A radio as the iPhone 4.

More: AnandTech

Thanks: @nerdtalker, @justin_horn, @varek, @shuxley

Right now iPhone 5, like any dark matter, can only be observed by its effects on others, including the log traces it leaves and the cases manufacturers leak. This time it's TechCrunch, citing an undisclosed developer who's iOS app, points to records of a never-before-seen dual-mode GSM/CDMA world phone.

The logs show that the app has been briefly tested by a handful of people using what is almost certainly an iPhone 5, evidently running iOS 5, sporting two distinct sets of mobile network codes (MNC) / mobile country codes (MCC). Those codes can be used to uniquely identify mobile carriers.

Sure enough, some registrations for the app – which the developer also asked not to be named – were logged from a new Apple device, using the MNC/MCC codes from both Verizon and AT&T.

Apple has had theoretical support for a world phone since switching to Qualcomm chips, but previous iPhone 4 models haven't enabled the feature. Turning it on would likely be bad news for those hoping iPhone 5 would sport LTE (the faster and closest to a "real" next generation wireless technology). HSPA+, a not-quite-as-fast but far more widespread "4G" protocol looks like a safer bet, though it would leave Verizon behind on the same EVDO Rev A speed the current iPhone supports. (See TiPb's guide to wireless network terminology for more on what this all means.)

In other words, Verizon could advertise a world phone but AT&T could say they have a 4G iPhone.

[TechCrunch]

There are a couple of conflicting stories this weekend about wether or not Apple's upcoming iPhone 5 -- which could be set for launch on October 7 -- will have 4G LTE wireless networking built in.

BGR claims to have caught a glimpse at a plist file (preferences list) from an iPhone carrier that shows some interesting LTE info:

BGR has obtained evidence of an internal iOS test build from one of Apple’s major carrier partners, and buried in the firmware is a property list (.plist file) for LTE. This doesn’t necessarily mean every Apple device that’s about to be released will feature an embedded 4G LTE modem, but it certainly means Apple isn’t sitting on the sidelines as 4G LTE networks continue to roll out around the world.

The Cell Phone Junkie, however, points out that the chips Apple probably wants to use still won't be ready until 2012:

Typically, a switch in chips would require a 3-4 month production process on Qualcomm’s part for the initial order. This would mean if the iPhone 5 was using anything other than the MDM6600 for an October release, we would have likely heard about a leak (like the one from the The Street for it launch) for the switch to something different. And unless Apple is pushing the device launch into early 2012, I don’t see a chip switch happening this year.

So how do we reconcile these apparently conflicting reports? Apple almost certainly has LTE iPhones in the labs so they no doubt have iOS builds that can run the radio. It's possible the plist entry exists for lab testing but not for real world use.

That means we'd still get an HSPA+ "4G" iPhone 5 in 2011, but would still be waiting on an LTE 4G iPhone 6 in 2012.

Unless of course Apple's managed to work a miracle and decided to make iPhone 5 the first AT&T LTE device...

[BGR, The Cell Phone Junkie]

A Canadian buffet of Rogers news today, with Q2 financial results, an update on the current out-of-stock situation at Rogers, Fido, and Apple Canada, and the beginning of an HSPA+ super-fast 3G rollout.

First up, Bloomberg (via MDN) reports that Rogers that ARPU (average revenue per user) was down $1.47 as customers curbed long-distance and travel, while total sales rose 3.1%. As to the iPhone in particular, the introduction of the iPhone 3GS and $99 price point for the iPhone 3G helped Rogers add 148,000 subscribers this quarter.

Second, TUAW reports that Rogers, their subsidiary Fido, and Apple Stores (which just began carrying the iPhone in Canada on June 19) are all in short supply or completely sold out of iPhones. Given that Apple reported 5.2 million sold last quarter amid shortages, and is planning to fill out 80 countries by the end of the year, we can only repeat Dieter's abject shock at the continuing sales volumes...

Third, and funnest (TM iPod touch),Engadget Mobile says Rogers is ready to rock and roll with HSPA+ at 21Mbps. Zoom. Zoom. The GTA will get initial love, though Rogers says it will expand quickly to other cities. Since the iPhone 3GS only supports up to 7.2Mbps, we're not likely to benefit directly, though we only get half that currently so who knows...