T-Mobile USA Claims Next iPhone Chipset Will Support Carrier's AWS Bands

With the launch of the iPhone 4S, T-Mobile USA is now the only one of the four major U.S. carriers to not offer the iPhone, due in large part to the carrier's use of the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum band for its 3G network, a situation that so far would require Apple to develop specific hardware compatible with the network. Some had hoped that the situation would be rectified over time by AT&T's planned acquisition of T-Mobile, but that deal has fallen apart in the face of scrutiny from regulators.

t mobile usa logo
AllThingsD now reports on comments from T-Mobile CEO Philipp Humm again acknowledging that the AWS issue is an important reason for the carrier's lack of the iPhone, but reporting that the issue will be addressed both by migration of T-Mobile's spectrum bands and by new chipsets supporting AWS.

“The key reason we didn’t have the iPhone in the past is we are on different band than globally the market was,” Humm said. “That is something which will change over time. Chipsets are also evolving to be able to allow for more bands.”

As always, though, the decision is up to Apple, Humm acknowledges.

CNET has more on the topic from T-Mobile Chief Technology Officer Neville Ray, who specifically claims that Apple's plans for the next iPhone chipset include support for AWS.

Ray, however, said T-Mobile's unique spectrum would have required extra work to ensure the iPhone ran correctly on its network. But the next chipset that Apple plans to use will be able to overcome that hurdle, he said.

"The next chipset will support AWS," he said in an interview with CNET. "The challenge that existed in the past will go away."

Ray said he has seen the roadmap of chipsets that Apple plans to use, and knows it has that capability. But he noted Apple could choose to ignore that capability and not strike a deal with T-Mobile.

New LTE networks are another factor in the discussion, with rumors suggesting that the iPhone 5 may indeed support the faster technology with greater unification of network standards across carriers. But with LTE still being built out and carriers having achieved varying stages of progress on their efforts, the iPhone and other smartphones will continue to require compatibility with 3G networks as a fallback option where LTE won't yet be available.

Update: In a clarification to 9to5Mac, T-Mobile reports that Ray said only that Apple could use an AWS-capable chipset in a future iPhone model, not that he had specific knowledge of Apple's roadmap.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

ios 19 messages app

Apple Sues Jon Prosser Over iOS 26 Leaks

Thursday July 17, 2025 8:40 pm PDT by
Earlier this year, YouTuber Jon Prosser shared multiple videos showing off what he claimed to be re-created renderings of what was then presumed to be called iOS 19 and which was eventually unveiled by Apple as iOS 26 at WWDC in June. In his first video back in January, Prosser showed off a Camera app redesign with a simpler set of buttons for moving between photo and video modes, and he...
iPhone 17 Colors

All 15 New iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Colors Revealed in Latest Leak

Wednesday July 16, 2025 6:50 am PDT by
We may finally have a definitive list of all color options for the iPhone 17 series, ahead of the devices launching in September. MacRumors concept In a report for Macworld today, Filipe Espósito said he obtained an "internal document" that allegedly reveals all of the color options for the upcoming iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models. The report includes ...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Here's When to Expect the iOS 26 Public Beta

Tuesday July 15, 2025 11:07 am PDT by
Apple previously announced that a public beta of iOS 26 would be available in July, and now a more specific timeframe has surfaced. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said that Apple's public betas should be released on or around Wednesday, July 23. In other words, expect the public betas of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and more to be available at some point next week. Apple will be releasing...
iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

Ranked: The Best Features Rumored for the iPhone 17 Lineup

Wednesday July 16, 2025 4:17 pm PDT by
We have just under two months to go until the debut of Apple's iPhone 17 models, and rumors have been ramping up in recent weeks. We went through everything we know so far, pulling out the most exciting rumors and highlighting some other changes that aren't going to be so great. Top Tier Ultra Thin iPhone 17 Air - The iPhone 17 Air is 2025's most exciting iPhone rumor, because it's the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Foldable iPhone's Thickness and Price Range Detailed in New Reports

Wednesday July 16, 2025 11:31 am PDT by
Apple's long-rumored foldable iPhone will likely have a starting price between $1,800 and $2,000 in the U.S., analysts at investment banking firm UBS said this week. If so, the foldable iPhone would cost more than a MacBook Pro, which starts at $1,599. With a starting price of at least $1,800, the foldable iPhone would be the most expensive iPhone model ever released, topping the Pro Max at...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...

Top Rated Comments

bretmartin Avatar
176 months ago
Man, I *really* hate the stupid marketing names for frequency bands like "PCS" and "AWS".
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cvaldes Avatar
176 months ago
i love how the US has all this different bands yet none seem to work perfectly ^^ why not just stick to one and try to make it better like the rest of the world
Too late. The FCC has already sold these frequencies to various carriers.

The real root of the problem was the FCC letting multiple cellular technologies proliferate, rather than imposing some sort of industry standard.

The EU made a wise decision in stipulating that GSM/UTMS would be the cellular technology deployed. Note that there will always be various frequencies in various parts of the world as legacy services may be occupying any particular part of the spectrum.

The 700MHz North American spectrum (ultimately acquired by Verizon and AT&T) was freed up after analog television terrestrial broadcasting was legally ended.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dontwalkhand Avatar
176 months ago
GREAT NEWS

NOW THAT ALL Carriers will have an iPhone, the other carriers will have to all compete again. And it will definitely stir up innovation in the phone industry again.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
yeah Avatar
176 months ago
Apple, if your hearing this, please don't upset your future iPhone costumers.
MILLIONS of people are patiently waiting for the iPhone to come to T-Mobile (including me). :)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cvaldes Avatar
176 months ago
Now if cellphone hardware was not so insanely expensive.
If you want a cheap cellphone, they are out there, you just need to look. However most of them aren't all that good. A large percentage of inexpensive handsets aren't marketed on a worldwide basis, but are limited to certain markets, particularly southeast Asia.

There are major cellphone handset manufacturers that have almost zero market presence in the USA, yet are selling hundreds of millions of phones: Huawei, Pantech, ZTE, etc.

If the design is over a year old, chances are it'll be cheap no matter what the price was at the original release.

You can get unlimited talk/text/3G data for $45/month (no contract) from Straight Talk (a brand of TracFone Wireless): a refurbed Nokia E71 smartphone is $100, one-year warranty.

Heck, I paid about $30 for my Motorola dumbphone when I signed up for T-Mobile's Pay As You Go service about five years ago. It's no longer my primary phone, but it still works great. I keep a Truphone SIM in it for emergencies (T-Mobile USA unlocked this handset after a few months).

Again, inexpensive handsets can be found.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Amazing Iceman Avatar
176 months ago
Look again, that should be $65/line, or $130/2 lines. So the calculations should be:

T-Mobile Value Plan for two lines:
2 4Ss: $1300
$130/month (5GB data cap) for 24 months: $3120
Total: $4420

I am on a T-Mobile family plan but it is an older grandfathered My Faves plan, and I have looked into the Value plan to see if it would save us money but it would actually cost more even on a monthly basis. Plus we would pay full price for the phones (I am the only one out of 5 lines with an iPhone).
I have an even older T-mobile plan with Unlimited Data for $ 20.00 and unlimited Voice for 2 phones for $89.00. I know there's a new plan for loyalty customers, but requires getting into a 2-year contract, which I didn't want to do, as I want to get an iPhone.
Regardless how I calculate it, T-Mobile Plans are way much less expensive than AT&T, and that is the only reason why I haven't switched yet.

An iPhone for T-Mobile would be the best news in a long time, but I'm not sure it will happen. I've been hearing rumors like this for a long time already. I'll just be hopeful and wait a little... :rolleyes:

----------

Now if cellphone hardware was not so insanely expensive.
The new stuff is always expensive... Remember how much the first Radio Shack phones used to cost? Those big lunch boxes used to go for over $700.00. At that time, I don't believe there were any subsidies. You would have to pay full price with no way around it.

The good thing about Android devices is that these loose their original value very quickly. Today's $400.00 phone would be $50 in about a year; and sometimes free.

----------

That's great if you pay full price, but what they don't tell you is that the Value plans do NOT include any phone subsidies. You are going to pay either way, either more monthly and less for the phone or less monthly and more for the phone.

You are right about that, but I have noticed that long time customers get much better deals on new phones.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)