iPhone 12 Lineup's mmWave 5G Support Limited to the United States

As expected, the entire iPhone 12 lineup is compatible with faster 5G networks, but Apple's website confirms that support for high-frequency mmWave bands is limited to models sold in the United States. This includes compatibility with Verizon's new 5G Ultra Wideband network, which as of today is available in 55 cities across the country.

iphone 12 5g
mmWave is supported on all iPhone 12 models sold in the United States, ranging from the iPhone 12 mini to the iPhone 12 Pro Max. iPhone 12 models sold in all other countries and regions are limited to sub-6GHz bands for 5G.

mmWave is a set of 5G frequencies that promise ultra-fast speeds at short distances, making it best suited for dense urban areas. By comparison, sub-6GHz 5G is generally slower than mmWave, but the signals travel further, better serving suburban and rural areas. In most countries that offer 5G, sub-6GHz networks are more common.

Apple says iPhone 12 models support more 5G bands than any other smartphone, and the devices can automatically adjust to LTE when necessary to save battery life, such as when updates are taking place in the background.

iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro pre-orders begin Friday, October 16 at 5 a.m. Pacific Time, with shipments starting Friday, October 23. The smaller 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini and larger 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max are launching later, with pre-orders beginning Friday, November 6 at 5 a.m. Pacific Time and shipments starting Friday, November 13.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr. The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models: iPhone 16 iPhone 16 Plus iPhone 16 Pro iPhone 16 Pro Max iPhone 15 iPhone 15 Plus iPhone 15 Pro iPhone 15 Pro Max iPhone 14 iPhon...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
mail categories macos

Apple's Redesigned Mail App is Expanding to the Mac — Here's When

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:02 am PST by
Apple plans to expand the iPhone's redesigned Mail app to the Mac starting with macOS 15.4, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The first macOS 15.4 beta should be made available in the coming weeks, and Apple has previously suggested that the iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4 series of software updates will be released to the public in April. The revamped Mail app debuted on all...
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon. Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...

Top Rated Comments

Rudy69 Avatar
56 months ago
I already wasn't excited about 5G....now I'm just thrilled
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RamGuy Avatar
56 months ago
So this goes for both the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro models? No biggie as mmWave won't make it to where I leave in Norway for at least 2 years+ and even if/when it does it seems like a technology not really meant for phones. The fact that you pretty much need line-of-sight between the transceiver and receiver makes it look technology that is supposed to be used for high throughput point-to-point connections and not cellular phones that you keep moving all over the place.

Regardless I find it really stupid for Apple to make yet another thing "US-only". So many of Apple latest releases seem to be US-first making me feel like a lesser customer and user for not living in the US. Not to mention how mmWave is supposed to make production cost noticeably higher. So this basically means that Apple non-US customers are pretty much paying more for less when purchasing the iPhone 12 or 12 Pro.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TantalizedMind Avatar
56 months ago
There is still a notch on this thing?!!! Pass!
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tim182 Avatar
56 months ago
In the UK carriers are using n78 (3500MHz) for 5G. O2 is looking at rolling out n40/band40 (2300MHz) at some point, all of which are support by all iPhone 12 regional variants.

There is an additional auction for long range 5G on 700MHz in the UK and parts of Europe (Italy?) but this isn't being used yet. According to https://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/cellular/ this band is also supported on on regional variants (n12 and n28).

Europe and Canadian model iPhones don't support mmWave (above 6-GHz) 5G. At this stage, there is no mmWave in Europe, although the EU (and UK?) are looking to license 26Ghz (n258) mmWave at some point. However, the US model does not support n258 - it supports n260 (39 GHz) and n261 (28 GHz) which are not in the pipeline for Europe. So the additional bands of the US model are pointless outside the US.

I note there also is the 600MHz 5G band which is supported in the Canadian (and US) version, but not in the European one... Not sure what the pipeline is for this?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ghostface147 Avatar
56 months ago
Even a tree can block the signal. No thanks.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kaycrystal626 Avatar
56 months ago
mmWave is a joke. You need line-of-sight to get optimum speed. Not good if you have walls and rain outside.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)