What you need to know
- The iPhone 12 offers a big Personal Hotspot advantage over iPhone 11.
- That's because it supports tethering over 5GHz, rather than 2.4GHz.
- Combined with 5G, it could make for an immense speed boost when tethered.
The Phone 12 will let users tether to other devices using 5GHz Wi-Fi, rather than 2.4GHz, for a big speed Personal Hotspot speed boost.
From MacRumors:
As noted by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser, and confirmed by Aaron Zollo, the iPhone 12 lineup introduces support for Personal Hotspot tethering over faster 5GHz Wi-Fi, compared to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi on previous iPhones.
As with previous cellular Apple devices, the iPhone 12 will allow users to connect a Wi-Fi-enabled device like a laptop or tablet to the internet using your iPhone's cellular signal and data. Previously, this connection was only supported through 2.4GHz Wi-Fi. However, with iPhone 12, this has been upgraded to 5GHz.
This could make for a big speed boost when it comes to using a device tethered to your iPhone 12. As noted by HowtoGeek, the speed difference between 2.4GHz and 5GHz is vast:
The biggest difference between the two is speed. Under ideal conditions, 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi will support up to 450 Mbps or 600 Mbps, depending on the class of the router. 5 GHz Wi-Fi will support up to 1300 Mbps.
This support is likely built-in to reflect the iPhone 12's support for 5G, which theoretically will give users access to much faster cellular data depending on their coverage.
There is a tradeoff, however, whilst faster, 5GHz Wi-Fi can't travel as far, or through walls as well as 2.4GHz. The impact of this is likely negligible however, as many users are probably tethering to devices just a short distance away, perhaps on a train or in a coffee shop.
The iPhone 12 was released last week featuring Apple's A14 processor, 5G capability, and an all-new design.
Pre-orders are now open for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro at Apple. Devices will begin shipping on October 23.
