New report points to iPhone 13 supporting 5G mmWave in more countries

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By Joe Wituschek
last updated

Iphone 12 5g
Iphone 12 5g (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple may ship more iPhone 13 models with 5G mmWave support.
  • The feature is currently limited to iPhone 12 models in the United States.

The rumor that 5G mmWave will come to more countries with the iPhone 13 keeps growing.

As reported by Digitimes, over half of the iPhone 13 models shipped around the world are expected to have 5G mmWave inside the phone:

Over 50% of next-gen iPhones to support 5G mmWave technology: More than 50% of Apple's next-generation iPhone devices slated for launch in the latter half of 2021 reportedly will support 5G mmWave technology, according to industry sources.

Today's report matches up with an earlier report from April where supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple will increase the number of models that support 5G mmWave to around 55-60%. That is in comparison to 30-35% of shipped iPhones with the iPhone 12.

In a note seen by iMore, Kuo states 5G coverage will increase significantly in the second half of 2021, particularly when it comes to mmWave 5G, which is much faster than Sub-6GHz.Kuo says that the proportion of 5G mmWave in the iPhone will increase to around 55-60% compared to around 30-35% in the iPhone 12. The note says that Kuo believes mmWave 5G in the iPhone 13 will be supported in the U.S., as well as Canada, Japan, Australia, and by "major European mobile operators" significantly increasing the proportion of mmWave iPhone devices accordingly.

When Apple announced that the iPhone would support 5G for the first time with the iPhone 12, it reserved 5G mmWave for iPhones in the United States. While it unclear exactly which countries will be added to the list, it appears that a few more are ready to get the feature.

This support, of course, is dependent on countries adding 5G mmWave technology that the iPhone can take advantage of. If you don't need to wait for the iPhone 13, check out our list of the Best iPhone 2021.

iPhone 12 Blue
iPhone 12


Bottom line: For most people, there is no reason to invest in the Pro model. With near-matched specs across the board, this is the new standard in iPhone.

Joe Wituschek
Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.