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iPhone Developer Says Apple Throttles iPhone Speeds for Carriers
Update: Others Point Out Apple's Doing No Such Thing

Joseph Brown has developed hacked carrier updates for AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, so you would expect that he knows a little something about the code rumbling around inside both iPhones and iPads. Interestingly, Brown is making waves this week with a blog post (that has since disappeared, though you can find an alternate explanation here) claiming that Apple is intentionally throttling back the speeds both iPhone and iPads are capable of at the behest of wireless carriers.

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As an example, Brown claims that Apple is crippling the iPhone 5 so it uses Category 10 (14.4Mbps) HSDPA despite the fact the device can utilize category 24 (42.2Mbps) DC-HSDPA+ and AT&T's network supports up to Category 14 (21.1Mbps) HSDPA+. Writes Brown:
quote:
Apple and the carriers have implented coding to purposely slow down or limit the data speeds the device can achieve. "But, why would they do this?" you may ask. Well, every single reason as to why is simply something we can’t answer. However, from previous statements released by AT&T and many tech orginizations, iPhones are very complex devices with a very complex OS. The OS eats much more data, even when in idle mode, than most phones on the market. So by carrier request, Apple limits devices to “even out” the network, even if it means Galaxy users out perform Apple devices by such large scales.
Most carriers haven't commented, though Verizon tells CNET's Steven Musil that they don't throttle, but wouldn't comment on Apple's code. "For that, you would have to call Apple," said the company. It's still unclear why Brown deleted the original post; I can only surmise that it's either a glitch, he didn't like the attention he was getting for some reason -- or he wound up being wrong and wanted to bury the post before it gained any more press attention.

Update: Brian Klug over at Anandtech suggests it's the third option listed above, and breaks down in great detail why Apple is doing no-such thing.
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rit56
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY

rit56

Member

USA number 1

Where are all the free market cheerleaders? We the People are being sold products that are sub par to allow carriers to crap on us. They are limiting the capability of our technology. Yeah duopoly's!! USA!!! We're number 9 !!!!
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: USA number 1

Please. Ok In most large cities you have 4 major carriers as well as several MVNOs. Hardly DUOpoly. Which implies TWO. In other areas where there is basically Verizon and at&t. That Sprint's and T-Mobile's fault for shitting on the people in those areas because their money is green enough.

thebigfatj
@wisc.edu

thebigfatj

Anon

I suspect he's wrong

It doesn't make sense -- the OS itself doesn't use a ton of data. Android, for example, tracks and reports this and its a few megabytes per month, or less. I know because I watch it.

If it's negotiating different HSPA+ standards its likely for battery reasons. The Nexus 4 does exactly that -- negotiate lower HSPA (standard 8) when idle, then negotiate faster when busy. So does the Galaxy Nexus.

ropeguru
Premium Member
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA

ropeguru

Premium Member

Re: I suspect he's wrong

said by thebigfatj :

It doesn't make sense -- the OS itself doesn't use a ton of data. Android, for example, tracks and reports this and its a few megabytes per month, or less. I know because I watch it.

If it's negotiating different HSPA+ standards its likely for battery reasons. The Nexus 4 does exactly that -- negotiate lower HSPA (standard 8) when idle, then negotiate faster when busy. So does the Galaxy Nexus.

But from what is reported it sounds like that would be the main difference between Android and Apple. The iPhone is being hard coded to a slower speed where Android adjusts on the fly depending on needs. The article did not say that the iPhone was set to adjust.
chgo_man99
join:2010-01-01
Sunnyvale, CA

chgo_man99

Member

Re: I suspect he's wrong

Its not true, what version of iOS did he use anyway? I have 6.1.4 with att and in some places i get speeds above 30mbs down and up in Chicago area.
dcn66100
join:2012-08-07

dcn66100 to thebigfatj

Member

to thebigfatj
My moms Iphone is not slowed down on verizon she sometimes gets 50mbps down on speedtest.net app.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

Re: I suspect he's wrong

I've found Speedtest.net's tests to be highly inaccurate, but that's likely due to the ISP's not Speedtest.net themselves.

A recent test for me yielded nearly 40 down and 20ish up.

In reality the max I get up is around 3.1
chgo_man99
join:2010-01-01
Sunnyvale, CA

chgo_man99

Member

Re: I suspect he's wrong

thats isolated problem, speedtest.net results are very random but for most part almost accurate. The best way to measure is to use multiple from multiple vendors and average. Just be sure you use speed test servers near you every time you run it so you compare apples to apples.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
Netgear WNDR3700v2
Zoom 5341J

KrK

Premium Member

Re: I suspect he's wrong

It seems accurate when I run it from the S3. When run on Cox, it's way off, massively overstates upload and often download. From a very close server. Not sure why, but it's consistent. Here let me try it right now:




17.44 up it says right now. Funny how 2.5 up over-saturates, then.
chgo_man99
join:2010-01-01
Sunnyvale, CA

chgo_man99

Member

Re: I suspect he's wrong

have you tried shaperprobe?

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

Re: I suspect he's wrong

? Guess I'll look into that.
CplEstesUSMC
join:2005-02-16
Douglasville, GA

CplEstesUSMC

Member

You can do this with the SIM

It wouldn't make sense to code a device to be slower, you can do that at the SIM level if the carrier was interested. Also Wouldn't a carrier want their iPhone to run faster than another carrier for marketing purposes ? Also wouldn't a carrier want the phone to hit it's cap faster to make them more money?

Hall
MVM
join:2000-04-28
Germantown, OH

Hall

MVM

Re: You can do this with the SIM

said by CplEstesUSMC:

Also Wouldn't a carrier want their iPhone to run faster than another carrier for marketing purposes ?

Two things: 1) A carrier can make their claims based on what their network is capable of. Doesn't mean in the real world that users will ever see that on their phones. 2) They can run their tests with an un-capped phone.

Anytime people don't see "full" speeds, be it with their internet provider, wireless provider, etc, they always have the excuse -- which can be legitimate -- that things beyond their control are the cause of slowdowns.
eco
Premium Member
join:2001-11-28
Wilmington, DE

eco

Premium Member

Mistake

There's got to be some sort of mistake here. I have a personal iPhone 5 on the AT&T network and a work issued iPhone 5 on Verizon. With AT&T I've hit 56Mbps and with Verizon I've hit 39Mbps, and rather consistently, in different parts of my state. Both are over LTE, obviously. If those are throttled speeds I'd like to know what the unthrottled speeds are.

thebigfatj
@wisc.edu

thebigfatj

Anon

Re: Mistake

I should point out he's talking about HSPA+, not LTE. I agree with you, however, that he's almost certainly wrong, the evidence is completely against him, and this story wouldn't have been posted if this site was properly curated.
eco
Premium Member
join:2001-11-28
Wilmington, DE

eco

Premium Member

Re: Mistake

If you look at the original article it said AT&T and Verizon also throttled LTE.

In any case it's moot, as you've said. He's already been proven wrong.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Mistake

said by eco:

If you look at the original article it said AT&T and Verizon also throttled LTE.

In any case it's moot, as you've said. He's already been proven wrong.

Well considering it's illegal for Verizon to throttle LTE over the 700 MHz spectrum which currently is the only spectrum they are using for LTE.