How US Carriers Are Slowing 5G iPhones Down

There's a gap right now between what 5G phones can do and what US 5G networks can do. Both Verizon and AT&T absolutely flatlined on performance between 2020 and 2021, and despite 5G being around for over two years, carriers are letting us down. There are a number of answers for why this is happening; we're still reeling from former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai's mistakes. Pai didn’t prioritize making mid-band spectrum available for 5G, and that set us back by at least a year. Moreover, the chipset shortage is having an even deeper effect than is obvious, with carriers unable to get the components they need to set up new capabilities such as standalone 5G cores. This proved to be much more complicated than everyone thought it'd be. Lastly, network slicing and some other features rely on 5G Release 16, and that network hardware just became available this year (and it isn't very available). I don't think this means "5G is doomed," but it certainly makes reviewing new 5G phones less thrilling for the moment.

[Sascha Segan is the lead mobile analyst at PC Magazine.]