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Apple to support India’s faster 5G network as country pushes phone makers

Published Oct 11th, 2022 8:36AM EDT
Verizon-5G

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India’s government is pushing Apple, Samsung, and other mobile manufacturers to roll out a software update to support 5G in the country, as it has recently launched a high-speed service. According to people familiar with the matter, Apple could roll out a software update to fix this as soon as December.

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As reported by Reuters, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “launched 5G services on Oct. 1 amid much fanfare” with two leading telecom operators promising 5G availability in a few cities, “but Apple’s iPhone models, including the latest iPhone 14, and many of Samsung’s premier phones do not have software compatible for supporting 5G in India,” according to industry sources.

Concerned by this, top bureaucrats from India’s telecoms and IT departments will chair a meeting on Wednesday for early 5G adoption, asking smartphone executives from foreign companies Apple, Samsung, Vivo and Xiaomi, as well as domestic telecom operators Reliance, Airtel and Vodafone Idea to be present, according to a government document seen by Reuters.

iPhone 14 Notch
iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus feature a notch similar to iPhone 13 models. Image source: Christian de Looper for BGR

While Reuters report that the Indian government is talking to Apple and other manufacturers, ET News says Apple may roll out a software update as soon as December to fix this.

“Apple is presently testing their devices in cities like Mumbai and Delhi on Airtel’s 5G network, and may roll out the update supporting 5G to supported iPhone models by December,” a personal familiar with the matter said.

As Apple aims for “the best experience on iPhones” the company “usually takes time to test and validate its devices every time a new carrier goes live with their 5G network,” said these people.

With Apple currently testing iOS 16.1, which will likely be released in the next few weeks, it means the Cupertino company would roll out support to India’s 5G network with iOS 16.2, which could be available around the end of this year or the beginning of 2023.

José Adorno Tech News Reporter

José is a Tech News Reporter at BGR. He has previously covered Apple and iPhone news for 9to5Mac, and was a producer and web editor for Latin America broadcaster TV Globo. He is based out of Brazil.

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