is Apple customising the 4G iPad country wise ?

You just don't get to use LTE in those countries. Why would they deny you 3G on your iPad?

No.

The only way Apple is changing the 2012 iPad is if there is some country with a large existing LTE market. Finland isn't it. South Korea probably doesn't make the cut either. So, what you see is what you get for the 2012 model year.

On the bright side, it supports HSPA+ 21 and DC-HSDPA at 42 Mbit/s. That sounds quite good if real world data rates are > 10 Mbit/s. This covers a lot of countries.

What I expect to happen is that the 2014 iPad to support something like 700, 800, 1700, 2600 MHz LTE frequencies, whatever the set of frequencies would cover the most LTE markets. Maybe even penta-band or hexa-band to cover as many countries as possible. Those chipsets probably won't be available for another 2 years. It's ok, as LTE deployment won't be happening in big for another couple of years anyways.

That's not possible at all. It's a single chip. Apple's not going to make a special 3G-only version.

I don't know why you're even asking this stuff. It does you no harm to have 4G sitting there doing nothing. It won't be used if it doesn't exist. You don't have to worry!

It's the same situation in 90% of the US, where we actually have the LTE support: There's just no LTE virtually anywhere, so it'll default to 3G.

When/If the relevant carriers add support for the appropriate bands, then Apple might be able to add their support through a carrier/iOS update, and then you'd get LTE functionality, but that's all speculation right now.

No, you misunderstand. If your country's carriers release their LTE at the same frequency as that of the LTE supported by the iPad, it will be compatible. If not, then it won't ever be compatible. Software can't change the frequency, software would simply activate the iPad's ability to access that carrier's LTE network.

I never said it couldn't. I actually said exactly the opposite. As LTE gets built outside of North America, and provided it works on the same frequencies as those accepted by the iPad, it should very well work.


Because it isn't that easy.


Oh, YES it did.


Now. Not originally. Not six months ago, even.


Apple has nothing to do with it. There is NO "world compatible" LTE stuff because everyone refuses to use the same stuff. There is no single chip that can handle it all.

No luck needed. You can just count on the LTE networks not being compatible, and therefore the 2012 iPad won't support LTE in your country, if it has an LTE network. Your government should have a commission or entity that determines how radio frequencies are used.

For instance, in the UK, their telecommunications entity has allocated 800 MHz, 1800 MHz, and maybe 2600 MHz spectrum for use with LTE networks. They just did this recently, and currently do not have a LTE network. I believe one of the local, smaller operators will start an LTE network late this year or next. And a build out with multiple networks likely won't happen until 2014 in the UK. Each country will similarly allocate a set of spectrum for LTE. All you need to do is ask.

Currently, LTE chipset are designed to support frequencies of existing networks. The USA, long considered some strange telecommunications backwater, is considered to be largest LTE market with the biggest LTE networks. So, it's basically Apple's only path right now. It wouldn't be a smart thing for Apple, more importantly, the radio chipset manufacturer to support a theoretical network that's not being built yet.

Like I said earlier, it's not a big loss if you are not in the USA or Canada. Many other countries support 21 Mbit/s HSPA+ and 42 Mbit/s DC-HSPA. The data rates from these networks are close enough to LTE in the USA that it really won't be that different for most users. Both LTE iPads (Verizon and ATT) are unlocked 3G (HSPA) devices and will support this higher performance HSPA networks.

If you are in a country that doesn't have a supported HSPA+ network nor an LTE network, not sure what I can tell you. The iPad WiFi+4G supports UMTS (good old "3G"), so you can still use it on the go. So, it's still a win, unless this UMTS network isn't on a supported frequency. If the network is not an iPad supported network, I suggest buying the WiFi version or some other tablet with the supported cellular wireless technology.

Yes.


You're acting as though it's Apple's choice. It isn't.


Again, it's the various carriers' choice, not Apple's. Apple didn't choose to support only certain LTE frequencies. If the carriers own spectrum that doesn't fall within the support of the iPad 3, they can't very well offer service for it unless they buy different spectrum. It has nothing to do with what Apple does and doesn't support; the chips that exist only do the existing spectrum for LTE.