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iPhone 5 on Verizon Wireless won’t support simultaneous voice and data

Published Sep 13th, 2012 6:15PM EDT
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iPhone 5 Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless (VZ) has confirmed to BGR that the iPhone 5 will not support voice and data at the same time, even over 4G LTE. This is a little odd as Verizon’s 4G LTE devices all support simultaneous voice and data, but it won’t be in the iPhone 5 on Verizon.

iPhone 5 was designed to allow simultaneous voice calling on the Verizon Wireless network while browsing the Internet over WiFi.  This is no different from the current iPhone 4S. For further details, check with Apple.

It seems that the reason is due to the fact that the devices that support voice and data on 4G LTE all use two radios, one for data on 4G LTE and one for voice on CDMA. The iPhone 5 actually does feature two radios, but it uses both to get the best signal possible and is not able to switch between LTE and CDMA at the same time. This could eventually be resolved in the future when all voice communication is done over 4G LTE, but until then, it is a no go for Verizon Wireless and the iPhone 5.

This could be a deal breaker, folks. AT&T… will you take me back?

Jonathan S. Geller
Jonathan Geller Founder, President & Editor-in-chief

Jonathan S. Geller founded Boy Genius Report, now known as BGR, in 2006. It became the biggest mobile news destination in the world by the end of 2009, and BGR was acquired by leading digital media company PMC in April 2010.

Jonathan is President of BGR Media, LLC., and Editor-in-chief of the BGR website.

What started as a side project at the age of 16, quickly transpired into 24-hour days and nights of sharing exclusive and breaking news about the mobile communications industry. BGR now reaches up to 100 million readers a month through the website, syndication partners, and additional channels.