Verizon's 5G mobile network launching Apr. 11 with $10 premium over 4G

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited March 2019
Verizon will launch its 5G mobile network on Apr. 11 in just two U.S. cities, Chicago and Minneapolis, and charge $10 extra versus regular 4G service.

Verizon store


Prices will come in at $85 per month for a single-line Go Unlimited plan, $95 for Beyond Unlimited, and $105 for Above Unlimited, Verizon said. One advantage though will be a complete lack of throttling, something its 4G "unlimited" plans are subject to past certain data thresholds.

The first phone to support Verizon 5G will be the Moto Z3 with an attached 5G Moto Mod. Other compatible models are coming later this year, such as the LG V50 ThinQ and Samsung Galaxy S10 5G.

Verizon has yet to say what it expects in terms of speed, aside from promising things like "ultra low lag time" and millimeter wave, which enables the fastest forms of 5G.

Verizon's launch will be limited even within the two planned cities. In Chicago, the company is focusing mostly on The Loop, Gold Coast, River North, and Old Town. Minneapolis coverage is concentrating on Downtown East and Elliot Park. The carrier is expanding to over 30 markets by the end of the year.

Apple is expected to skip 5G in 2019 iPhones. The company would likely have to have a modem supplier lined up by this point, and its current modem partner, Intel, doesn't yet have a 5G modem that can meet Apple's needs. Even Qualcomm is relatively new to the 5G field, and its ongoing legal battles with Apple could keep it out of 2020 iPhones, never mind 2019.

It's believed that Apple may be working on its own 5G modem under the leadership of Johny Srouji. That could appear in a 2020 iPhone if the project is sufficiently advanced.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    These stories make me laugh.
    chasm
  • Reply 2 of 19
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,871member
    Yeah no. Won't pay an extra $10 for a faster (supposedly) backbone. Upgrading their infrastructure appropriately is part of the basic service already being paid for, IMO. I'd rather pocket the $10 and keep my existing cellular until all the networks have all switched years from now.

    Same with the Watch -- despite having the cellular I won't be paying an additional $10 (look now we're at +20/mo!) just to get an occasional text. Listening to John Gruber's podcast I see I'm not alone. The value proposition doesn't make sense.
    edited March 2019 mwhitedavenbonobobboltsfan17jbdragon
  • Reply 3 of 19
    deminsddeminsd Posts: 143member
    Can someone explain WHY we need such fast speeds on our phone?  What is it people would be doing on their phones that need to pay extra for 5G speeds?  

    To be honest, I'm not waiting for anything on my iPhone on 4G LTE that would be fixed by faster speeds.  If anything, it's the apps and sites that cause delays.
    jbdragon
  • Reply 4 of 19
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,913member
    Do I receive rebate on $10 when I don't receive 5G signal in many part of Chicago I travel ? What a hype ?
    jbdragon
  • Reply 5 of 19
    OutdoorAppDeveloperOutdoorAppDeveloper Posts: 1,293member
    Does it come with unlimited tethering for that $10? If it did, it would be worth it.
  • Reply 6 of 19
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    deminsd said:
    Can someone explain WHY we need such fast speeds on our phone?  What is it people would be doing on their phones that need to pay extra for 5G speeds?  

    To be honest, I'm not waiting for anything on my iPhone on 4G LTE that would be fixed by faster speeds.  If anything, it's the apps and sites that cause delays.
    We don’t. As far as phones go this is nerd territory only. Where 5G will become a killer app is in the “last mile” to the home or business. The traditional telecoms and cable companies are anxious to get out of the copper and coax business that costs big bucks to maintain. Deploying fiber on a massive scale to every home and business would cost $billions. Putting up additional towers and placing a fixed wireless 5G modem on your rooftop will cost much less and there would be almost no physical plant to maintain, meaning fewer employees needed, fewer trucks and material, etc. The savings will be huge. Will they pass those savings on to their customers? When Hell freezes over. I know AT&T sees this as the Holy Grail of broadband, no wires, no cables, no fiber, no maintenance, fewer employee salaries to pay.
    edited March 2019 macxpress4evermac
  • Reply 7 of 19
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,662member
    deminsd said:
    Can someone explain WHY we need such fast speeds on our phone?  What is it people would be doing on their phones that need to pay extra for 5G speeds?  

    To be honest, I'm not waiting for anything on my iPhone on 4G LTE that would be fixed by faster speeds.  If anything, it's the apps and sites that cause delays.
    The thinking is that 5G will go beyond phone use. The more devices connecting, the more bandwidth and and speed will be needed.

    Companies are now beginning to push CPE's (Customer Premises Equipment) to help get signals in and out of our homes.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 8 of 19
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,110member
    OutdoorAppDeveloper said:
    Does it come with unlimited tethering for that $10? If it did, it would be worth it.
    Yeah, if I could get replace my $65/mo. home internet with something faster and save $55/mo., it would make sense. Otherwise, it’s hard to see who would be interested in this. 
  • Reply 9 of 19
    Johan42Johan42 Posts: 163member
    Nope bus. What we need is reliability. Speeds are good, but sometimes data won’t transfer completely for whatever reason.
  • Reply 10 of 19
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    deminsd said:
    Can someone explain WHY we need such fast speeds on our phone?  What is it people would be doing on their phones that need to pay extra for 5G speeds?  

    To be honest, I'm not waiting for anything on my iPhone on 4G LTE that would be fixed by faster speeds.  If anything, it's the apps and sites that cause delays.
    Basically it's a nice to have, not a need to have. Also, some love pissing matches for everything so its bigger it must be better so I'll get it! Now, if it made it so I have a better signal in areas where it was low before, now its an improvement, but pay $10 just for speed I most likely won't notice for everyday tasks, nope!
  • Reply 11 of 19
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    How much faster is two bars of connection on 5G than two bars of 4G LTE, because that is all I get in most places around SoCal. Besides I'm not going to switch to an Android phone just to be an early adopter of 5G.
  • Reply 12 of 19
    muthuk_vanalingammuthuk_vanalingam Posts: 1,332member
    Most of the people commenting AGAINST 5G would NOT use the full power of A12 SoC either. Does that mean Apple should STOP advancing the SoCs just because people don't utilize them FULLY? No. Similar analogy would apply for 5G as well.
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 13 of 19
    4evermac4evermac Posts: 7member
    lkrupp said:
    deminsd said:
    Can someone explain WHY we need such fast speeds on our phone?  What is it people would be doing on their phones that need to pay extra for 5G speeds?  

    To be honest, I'm not waiting for anything on my iPhone on 4G LTE that would be fixed by faster speeds.  If anything, it's the apps and sites that cause delays.
    We don’t. As far as phones go this is nerd territory only. Where 5G will become a killer app is in the “last mile” to the home or business. The traditional telecoms and cable companies are anxious to get out of the copper and coax business that costs big bucks to maintain. Deploying fiber on a massive scale to every home and business would cost $billions. Putting up additional towers and placing a fixed wireless 5G modem on your rooftop will cost much less and there would be almost no physical plant to maintain, meaning fewer employees needed, fewer trucks and material, etc. The savings will be huge. Will they pass those savings on to their customers? When Hell freezes over. I know AT&T sees this as the Holy Grail of broadband, no wires, no cables, no fiber, no maintenance, fewer employee salaries to pay.
    Smart observation. On the consumer side, 5G can handle a much higher data load simultaneously, but on the service provider side, the cost savings in maintenance would be significantly lower.
  • Reply 14 of 19
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,311member
    No way would I pay another $10 on already overpriced service fee's which are far cheaper in many other country's. Faster speed for what on my phone? I can already stream my music and video's. Why do I need faster speed? I'm sure not going to be using my phone for my Home Internet Network. No thanks. From the sound of things, way, way to early to even care about 5G at this point. Give it at least a couple more years.
  • Reply 15 of 19
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,291member
    Translation: there will be one or two test towers in the very limited areas mentioned in the two cities, and may not even be available to the public, since almost nobody will have 5G-compatible phones. Keep in mind that millimeter wave has a max distance between you and the transceiver of about one kilometre (0.6 miles), so in order to work there will need to be transceivers put all over the place from each of the various companies building 5G networks. This compares to the 20-62 *miles* various types of LTE towers can be apart to maintain coverage.

    I get why everyone's in love with the speed, but ... 5G is very likely to turn out to be rather disappointing for users even after 5G phones become more common.
    edited March 2019
  • Reply 16 of 19
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,356member
    deminsd said:
    Can someone explain WHY we need such fast speeds on our phone?  What is it people would be doing on their phones that need to pay extra for 5G speeds?  

    To be honest, I'm not waiting for anything on my iPhone on 4G LTE that would be fixed by faster speeds.  If anything, it's the apps and sites that cause delays.
    Improving mobile connectivity isn’t just about phones. For many folks a 5G connection will be their only point of access for all connected services in their homes and small businesses. On the capacity and throughput side of things, all of those billions of new IoT devices, like smart bellybutton lint detectors, will need to connect to the interweb somehow without bringing the whole thing to its knees. 
  • Reply 17 of 19
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    deminsd said:
    Can someone explain WHY we need such fast speeds on our phone?  What is it people would be doing on their phones that need to pay extra for 5G speeds?  

    To be honest, I'm not waiting for anything on my iPhone on 4G LTE that would be fixed by faster speeds.  If anything, it's the apps and sites that cause delays.
    Can anyone explain why we need cars?   What is it people would be doing that a horse can't already do?
    (And don't get me started on airplanes!)
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 18 of 19
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    Qualcomm: Extortion criminals that Apple will not use
    Intel:  Incompetent
    Looks like Apple needs Huawei to stay competitive.  But, Trump says "NO WAY!  -- My God!  They're CHINESE!"

    So, iPhone users will need to make due with the older technologies till Apple can either find a supplier or figures out how to make their own.
  • Reply 19 of 19
    redgeminiparedgeminipa Posts: 555member
    jbdragon said:
    No way would I pay another $10 on already overpriced service fee's fees which are far cheaper in many other country's countries. Faster speed for what on my phone? I can already stream my music and video's videos. Why do I need faster speed? I'm sure not going to be using my phone for my Home Internet Network home internet network.  No thanks. From the sound of things, way, way to too early to even care about 5G at this point. Give it at least a couple more years.
    Verizon is starting to offer 5G home internet. No data caps, and a promise of around 300 Mbps. Existing customers can get it for around $50 per month. That’s the biggest thing I’m waiting for. 
    GeorgeBMac
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