Loading ...Update #1: Chris Hunkele has provided an analysis at the end of the post that seems to suggest the iPhone 2.0 is fundamentally incompatible with the T-Mobile 3G network that is rolling out now, check it out.
Update #2: Chris Hunkele has confirmed that the 3G iPhone will not work on the 3G T-Mobile network, see his comment here. It is our understanding that the 3G iPhone will continue to function as the original EDGE-based iPhone did, you won’t have access to the 3G speeds on T-Mobile.
With the impending release of the 3G iPhone getting ready to drop July 11th, the rumor-mill is spinning (atleast for US citizens) with: “Will this work on T-Mobile’s 3G network?”
Also combined with news, starting back in April, that the T-Mobile 3G rollout was tentatively going to be voice-only (rumors suggest previous owners of the broadcast band weren’t getting off the band fast enough), but then a May update suggesting that T-Mobile was infact doing a soft-launch of the 3G data network silently to customers.
NOTE: The T-Mobile rumor mill has also stated that Phoenix will be one of the first major cities to see the complete 3G rollout happen; so for the Arizona folks reading, congrats and please let us know how it performs!
Of the friends I know on T-Mobile, 80% of them have JailBroken iPhones on the network, so the question is pretty relevant especially given the new restrictions that AT&T looks to be putting on unlockers getting their hands on the 3G iPhone.
Laurence Hartje pointed out the following:
T-Mobile: 1700/2100 MHz
AT&T: 1900 MHz
It look like the MHz range the two 3G networks operate on is different (an opportunity for AT&T to force Apple to lock the device to the AT&T network) which will likely cause very little cross-network population of 3G devices, assuming that supporting different MHz ranges isn’t a software change.
Chris Hunkele did some digging into the hardware behind the different models of the iPhones and came up with:
The iphone 1.0 is a quad band phone (GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900) and can operate on both ATT’s and T-mobile’s networks
The iPhone 2.0’s has the 3G chip “Infineon-sourced S-GOLD3“.
It’s a tri-band chip operating at 850/1900/2100Mhz.ATT offers UMTS or 3G using 850mhz(the old TDMA band) and 1900mhz.
While T-mobile offers HSDPA (technically 3.5g part of the UMTS specification) using 1700MHz for uplink and 2100MHz downlink.Because HSDPA is part of the UMTS spec, it’s backward compatable.HOWEVER you have the limiting factor begin the frequencies the individual carriers use to transmit the data..
Europe and Asia’s G3 runs on 1900/2100mhz
North and south America is suposed to use the (AWS) 3G spec using 1700/2100mhzATT didn’t want to wait, like T-mobile is doing, for homeland security to vacate those frequencies and launched on 850/1900mhz instead
The iphone2.0 would have to be 850/1700/1900/2100 3G and 850/1900 GSM (voice)….
Since it’s 850/1900/2100Mhz you can get 3G on ATT and in EuropeSo while you can crack iphone 2.0 and use Tmo’s EDGE, you will never get Tmo G3
…bastards
Chris, you are a badass my friend, that was a lot of research there and it looks like there is going to be no love for the iPhone 2.0 crowd on the T-Mobile network, atleast not right now.
We’ll keep you posted on any developments with regards to the 3G iPhone on T-Mobile as we find out more.
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July 11th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Good job Chris ! Hope to hear from u later on the tmobile can finally use the new eg iphone.
July 17th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Chris,
What is the latest on the iPhone working the Tmo’s G3? And will other programs like visual voicemail work? Like many I am sure I just want the phone and not ATT.
Davd
July 18th, 2008 at 7:45 am
This teardown from iFixit reaffirms what we had thought:
Apple used the Inferion BGA736, a 3 Band (800-900)/1900/2100MHz chip.
It is missing the critical 1700MHz band that would allow it to work universally on the U.S. carriers 3G networks. So you will be able to use the 3G portion only on ATT, and in Europe. But that would not stop you from cracking the 3G iPhone and using only EDGE on T-mobile’s network becuase it would still need EDGE radio to fall back onto on ATT’s sparse 3G network.
As for visual voicemail, I doubt seriously that you will see it working because this requires an upgrade on the carriers and of things. And why would T-Mobile spend money to support a feature on a phone they technically don’t support. Now T-mobile in Europe does sell the iPhone, and has visual voicemail but again why spend the money here.
August 3rd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
“While T-mobile offers HSDPA (technically 3.5g part of the UMTS specification) using 1700MHz for uplink and 2100MHz downlink.”
Ok so why not use the EDGE network for the uplink and utilize the 2100MHz for the downlink? It’s obviously the downlink that’s important.
Look at how satellite internet used to work back in the day. For those of you who dont know: You would use dial up networking to connect to your ISP. When you typed in a web address or whatever, it would travel through the dial up modem (all uplinks would do that) and the downlink would come through the satellite at a much faster speed.
See, there’s still hope.
Same principle can be used here: use EDGE for uplink and the 2100Mhz for the downlink.
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Sina,
Possible, but I’d have to say unlikely only because AT&T is done playing 2nd-place to Apple, with 1/4th of the iPhones out there unlocked and *not* under 2-year AT&T contract agreements I have to guess that they will do anything to keep people from getting their hands on working unlocked 3G phones.
It still might happen, but I fully expect AT&T to make it as unpleasant as possible to everyone.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
So what is the difference in a unlocked “American” IPhone 3G and an “European” IPhone 3G if you are using it on the T-mobile network in the U.S? The Italian IPhone supposedly comes unlocked out of the box and has an international Apple warranty. I guess Apple can’t say anything about it being modified for fixing it in America. Any thoughts on which route to go?
August 7th, 2008 at 6:01 am
Clay,
I don’t think there is much different except the astronomical price for the Euro one.
Aren’t they like $400 Euro (~$800 USD?).
August 7th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Sina: you make a good point, maybe some one could do that. HINT HINT
Clay: Hardware wise there is no difference just the price as Riyad mentioned.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
With Apple implanting “Effects” in the updates, it seems they could not crash international phones because of Euros comming to the U.S. to do business. There has to be a difference. Can you imagine being in the U.S. on business and your iphone doesn’t work? Then again, if people would just not buy the iphone it would send Apple a message. They screw there own country that has supported them for 30 years (I have had 17 Macs) and let the rest of the world pick their provider. That is so un-Apple like but very corporate. Maybe they are turning into Microsoft. I will never go ATT at any cost.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Well hopefully Apple wont renew ATT’s contract AGAIN.. Sometime in 2010 we might have unlocked iPhone :-/