Apple reportedly throttling iPhone and iPad cellular data speeds for top three US carriers (U: nope)
A website dedicated to providing iPhone carrier hacks claims to have discovered code in versions of Apple's iOS that suggests the nation's top three carriers are purposely throttling iPhone and iPad data speeds for all customers.
UPDATE: The original, mistaken claims of "throttling" on iOS devices have been taken back. The issue of carrier profiles is explained in this article.
According to developer Joseph Brown (via Cult of Mac), operator of iTweakiOS, specialized code exists on iPhones and iPads operating on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, which limits the devices' network settings to effectively caps data bandwidth.
Brown took snapshots of the iOS code managing the three carriers' network settings as applied to an iPhone 5, all of which appear to hamstring the handset's cellular data capabilities. For example, an AT&T iPhone 5 was limited to HSDPA "Category 10," which tops out at 14.4Mbps. The second-largest U.S. carrier's network is capable of supporting up to HSDPA+ speeds that reach 21.1Mbps.
Screenshots of AT&T throttle code. | Source: iTweakiOS
As for Verizon, Brown found throttling code on the telecom's versions of the iPhone and iPad relating to its 4G LTE network. Sprint, it seems, does not have such limitations enabled for its high-speed data offerings. Apple devices running on the 3G networks owned by both Verizon and Sprint, however, are also affected by similar limitations.
Because Apple is in complete control of the code running all of its devices, it can be posited that the company instituted the bandwidth caps at the behest of its partner carriers.
"[?] from previous statements released by AT&T and many tech orginizations [sic], iPhones are very complex devices with a very complex OS," Brown writes. "The OS eats much more data, even when in idle mode, than most phones on the market. So by carrier request, Apple limits devices to 'even out' the network, even if it means Galaxy users out perform Apple devices by such large scales."
In his testing, Brown did not find evidence of throttling on devices operating on T-Mobile's network.
UPDATE: The original, mistaken claims of "throttling" on iOS devices have been taken back. The issue of carrier profiles is explained in this article.
According to developer Joseph Brown (via Cult of Mac), operator of iTweakiOS, specialized code exists on iPhones and iPads operating on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint, which limits the devices' network settings to effectively caps data bandwidth.
Brown took snapshots of the iOS code managing the three carriers' network settings as applied to an iPhone 5, all of which appear to hamstring the handset's cellular data capabilities. For example, an AT&T iPhone 5 was limited to HSDPA "Category 10," which tops out at 14.4Mbps. The second-largest U.S. carrier's network is capable of supporting up to HSDPA+ speeds that reach 21.1Mbps.
Screenshots of AT&T throttle code. | Source: iTweakiOS
As for Verizon, Brown found throttling code on the telecom's versions of the iPhone and iPad relating to its 4G LTE network. Sprint, it seems, does not have such limitations enabled for its high-speed data offerings. Apple devices running on the 3G networks owned by both Verizon and Sprint, however, are also affected by similar limitations.
Because Apple is in complete control of the code running all of its devices, it can be posited that the company instituted the bandwidth caps at the behest of its partner carriers.
"[?] from previous statements released by AT&T and many tech orginizations [sic], iPhones are very complex devices with a very complex OS," Brown writes. "The OS eats much more data, even when in idle mode, than most phones on the market. So by carrier request, Apple limits devices to 'even out' the network, even if it means Galaxy users out perform Apple devices by such large scales."
In his testing, Brown did not find evidence of throttling on devices operating on T-Mobile's network.
Comments
Troll Ahoy !! Here they come !!
Quote:
"[?] from previous statements released by AT&T and many tech orginizations [sic], iPhones are very complex devices with a very complex OS," Brown writes. "The OS eats much more data, even when in idle mode, than most phones on the market. So by carrier request, Apple limits devices to 'even out' the network, even if it means Galaxy users out perform Apple devices by such large scales."
In his testing, Brown did not find evidence of throttling on devices operating on T-Mobile's network.
Here are screenshots of Speedtest.net on my Galaxy S4 and my iPad 4 both with Wifi turned off....
Don't know what it means but they should be the same right?
S4
iPad 4
Happy to hear my carrier Sprint doesn't throttle LTE at least. Sprint might be slower about building out their LTE network but going multi-mode will pay off big time in the future.
1) In my speed tests, I don't think I ever got 14Mbps download (Chicago area). I would guess that throttling peak downloads is probably not necessary for most parts.
2) "IOS consumes more data" -- yes, back in 2007 & 2008 when compared to other phones at the time, that was true. But today, I doubt an iPhone uses any more data than your average modern Android, given that they have essentially the same apps that live-updates as iOS does. That statement needs to get with the times...
Quote:
Originally Posted by geekdad
Don't know what it means but they should be the same right?
The S4 shows an LTE indicator, the iPad does not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bleh1234
Your pad4 has a higher latency
yeah but why? They are both on the same AT&T network? Both on my coffee table...why would they be different?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JollyPaul
The S4 shows an LTE indicator, the iPad does not.
yes...but they are both LTE devices...both with LTE sim cards in them... I must be missing something.
No, it's unlikely that you'll get the same results with additional tests on the same device. They should average out to about the same each time on a device but there are certainly reasons for the Tx or Rx rate to plummet on some rogue test.
That said, I would expect these two devices both on AT&T and both using the same network to at least in the same ballpark which they clearly are not. One issue is that the iPad is only showing '4G' which AT&T (and T-Mobile USA) refer to as being connected to their HSPA+ network, not their LTE network, which the S4 shows it's connected to.
That that said said, even once you test each on LTE there could be a firm divide between the two because of the power of the HW, an iffy SIM card, the drivers, the OS and app handling the results, the load from other things using that network, interference, and (what may be most important) the antenna(s).
Quote:
Originally Posted by geekdad
yeah but why? They are both on the same AT&T network? Both on my coffee table...why would they be different?
Check you iPad's settings, you may have (probably do given the display) LTE turned off.
Look at your graph - the S4 only had one blip of speed - I bet if you actually downloaded a file the iPad would have done it quicker - also your iPad does not show LTE only 4G
Quote:
Originally Posted by af410
My iPhone 5 is on AT&T. I just did a test on their LTE network (using the speedtest.net App) and got speeds of 31.5 Mbps (down) and 14.8 Mbps (up). Now this is less than the theoretical 100 Mbps of LTE, but far greater than the suggested limit above of 14 Mbps -- or is that only for HSDPA? Anyway, if they are throttling the LTE, I am not going to complain. Given that 1080p video tends to require about 6 Mbps in iTunes or Netflix, 30 Mbps should keep me happy for now on my mobile.
You are getting great speeds!
I don't believe that they throttle all the time but more as a option if network conditions call for it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DJRumpy
My speeds regularly exceed 20-30 mbps on AT&T. No cap here.
Do you live underneath a cell tower? ;-)