Verizon, Sprint iPhone 5 Still Won’t Let You Browse and Talk

The iPhone 5 is available for pre-order beginning at 12:01 a.m. PT on Friday — but the decision to choose a carrier just became more complicated.

Verizon has confirmed that its version of the iPhone 5 will not support simultaneous use of voice and data over its LTE network — and that means Sprint’s model won’t, either.

Apple announced on Wednesday the iPhone 5 will support 4G LTE networks, though it would offer three different versions of the iPhone 5 to accommodate different carriers’ networks. 

According to Apple, both Verizon and Sprint will offer the same version of the iPhone 5, so Sprint’s phone will not support simultaneous use either.

Verizon’s first iPhone did not allow for simultaneous talking and data usage, a limitation of the company’s CDMA network. There had been hope that an upgrade to LTE would fix the problem.

An Apple spokesperson told Mashable that the “iPhone 5 supports simultaneous voice and data on GSM-based 3G and LTE networks. It is not yet possible to do simultaneous voice and data on networks that use CDMA for voice and LTE for data in a single radio design.”

Verizon’s other LTE phones all offer simultaneous voice and data use over LTE.

AT&T’s iPhone — which uses GSM technology rather than CDMA — does allow for simultaneous talking and web surfing.

Sprint did not return a request for comment.

Planning to get an iPhone 5? Which carrier will you choose? 

Source : mashable.com