The iPhone 12 in Europe: Apple changes symbol positions, slower 5G, more expensive

[midian182]

In brief: The new iPhone 12 line is receiving mostly good reviews, with the elegant design often singled out as one of the plus points. In Europe, the handsets look slightly different than their US counterparts due to the regulatory body markings, which Apple has just altered. Residents must also endure higher prices and slower 5G.

As reported by Notebook Check, in the EU, phones must bear the CE marking, which indicates conformity with health, safety, and environmental protection standards for products sold within the European Economic Area. They must also display a symbol showing a product is non-recyclable. In US iPhones, all the regulatory body certifications are stored digitally.

Image credit: @1nsane_dev

Apple and Android devices usually place these markings at the base of a phone’s rear—they’re often hard to see, especially on certain colors. Twitter user @1nsane_dev spotted that with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, Apple has moved their location to the side. Perhaps Apple thought they were less noticeable in this new position? Below is a photo of the iPhone SE 2020 for comparison.

Additionally, Apple only sells models with support for high-frequency mmWave bands in the US, while Europe gets the slower sub-6 GHz 5G.

With an arguably less-appealing design and slower 5G, one might imagine Apple's handsets would be cheaper in Europe, but the opposite is true. As is the case with pretty much all electronic goods, the iPhone 12 series is more expensive across most of the continent compared to the US.

Ultimately, though, none of this is likely to dissuade European Apple fans from purchasing one of the devices, and they can always just buy a case.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87261-iphone-12-europe-slightly-different-look-slower-5g.html

 

[Hexic]

Such as how it goes. The US has had more advanced, and higher availability of high speed data networks for many years, so it makes sense to tone down the 5G bands to something that is more attainable across the pond for now. Only downside is, we have typically paid more for service here.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I honestly don't care about 5G.
5G is only going to hurt my battery life, it doesn't work in the buildings because of signal penetration issues. It's great for outdoor public wifi burst transmissions, but it's not going to be as big a splash as 4G LTE.

And then there are the data caps and plan changes you'll need to even use it.

Many countries I stay in during the year, when I switch over to their network, either have data caps or they don't get much higher than 3G.

 

[Vulcanproject]

Such as how it goes. The US has had more advanced, and higher availability of high speed data networks for many years, so it makes sense to tone down the 5G bands to something that is more attainable across the pond for now. Only downside is, we have typically paid more for service here.

European broadband is typically much faster, much cheaper and more widespread than in the USA and more people expect to rely on it when it comes to using their phones. For example in Barcelona swathes of the city have open network, Lisbon, Paris, Antwerp, Milan, a lot of Scandinavian cities etc. Virtually every public metro from Moscow to London and a lot of public transport be it buses and trams will hook you up with wifi.

The European Commission is funding free wifi projects in various locations, on a modest scale. Several networks use FON technology or public sharing networks so if you are subscribed with them you find an awful lot of coverage in populated areas.

Europe wants widespread 5G rollout but without Chinese technology in the networks it won't come quickly. I think you'll see more and more reliance on growing public wifi networks in major urban areas.

 

[Hexic]

European broadband is typically much faster, much cheaper and more widespread than in the USA and more people expect to rely on it when it comes to using their phones. For example in Barcelona swathes of the city have open network, Lisbon, Paris, Antwerp, Milan, a lot of Scandinavian cities etc. Virtually every public metro from Moscow to London and a lot of public transport be it buses and trams will hook you up with wifi.

The European Commission is funding free wifi projects in various locations, on a modest scale. Several networks use FON technology or public sharing networks so if you are subscribed with them you find an awful lot of coverage in populated areas.

Europe wants widespread 5G rollout but without Chinese technology in the networks it won't come quickly. I think you'll see more and more reliance on growing public wifi networks in major urban areas.

Cheaper, I would agree on. I was specifically referring to mobile data networks - where LTE and 5G are, and have been more prevalent and faster than most of the world in the US with the exception of Scandinavian countries and a few outliers.

When traveling throughout Europe, I would at times hit some LTE or 4G, but roughly half of my reception was 3G.. and this was from the UK all the way through Italy, and 4 countries inbetween.

As far as broadband speeds, the US is 13th for average speed as of this year.

 

[Endymio]

I honestly don't care about 5G. 5G is only going to hurt my battery life, it doesn't work in the buildings because of signal penetration issues.

Long term, battery life under 5G should be substantially better. The early 5g chipsets aren't very well optimized, and there are very few mm-wave stations installed. And sub-6 5G penetrates buildings just about as well as 4g. I remember people voicing the same concerns you do back when 3g was first introduced. Thankfully, we didn't listen and plowed ahead with newer, better technology.

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Everywhere gets slower 5G and higher prices than the USA.

 

[Bp968]

European broadband is typically much faster, much cheaper and more widespread than in the USA and more people expect to rely on it when it comes to using their phones. For example in Barcelona swathes of the city have open network, Lisbon, Paris, Antwerp, Milan, a lot of Scandinavian cities etc. Virtually every public metro from Moscow to London and a lot of public transport be it buses and trams will hook you up with wifi.

The European Commission is funding free wifi projects in various locations, on a modest scale. Several networks use FON technology or public sharing networks so if you are subscribed with them you find an awful lot of coverage in populated areas.

Europe wants widespread 5G rollout but without Chinese technology in the networks it won't come quickly. I think you'll see more and more reliance on growing public wifi networks in major urban areas.

What irks me is when I see charts that show a countries "average" speeds. They will show SK, hong kong, and tiawan and lament how fast their "average" speeds are compared to the "average" of the "USA" average.. wth? Of *course* its faster there! HK and Tiwian are not much more than giant cities. In parts of the US a company might need to lay a hundred miles of fiber or put up an entire tower to serve a half a dozen customers! Of course they don't want to lay out dozens of miles of fiber *per* customer, or put up cell towers that cover an area with half a dozen customers.

Even comparing a place like the UK to the US ends up being silly. Russia suffers less on those charts simply because huge parts of their landmass are almost uninhabited near arctic conditons.

 

[GamerNerves]

It's funny how people say this is bad for the European customers when it should be bad for Apple. It's like people must get these devices, but I'd say if the slower speed and those logos are a problem, just buy something else. Problem solved.

PS. I'm not sure though if those logos are in every device? I've had them in some and they never bothered me.

 

[Bp968]

It's funny how people say this is bad for the European customers when it should be bad for Apple. It's like people must get these devices, but I'd say if the slower speed and those logos are a problem, just buy something else. Problem solved.

PS. I'm not sure though if those logos are in every device? I've had them in some and they never bothered me.

Thats like telling a heroin addict if he can't find heroin he should just buy some cigarettes.