It ’s that Modern cellular service label that ’s make the most confusion ( and , in some cases , amusement ) for AT&T ’s iPhone 4S client .
With any iPhone , when you ’re on a Wi - Fi meshwork , you only see your aircraft carrier ’s name and the number of bar of servicing useable . Disconnect from Wi - Fi , and the Wi - Fi signal office is instead used to show the internet type you ’re presently connect to . Starting with iOS 5.1 , where AT&T iPhone 4S customers used to see the 3 G recording label , they now see 4 G instead . ( The stout 3 one thousand recording label remains in situation on other iPhone example , admit the iPhone 4 , and iPhones on other networks like Sprint and Verizon . )
While an iOS update could , theoretically , make under - the - thug improvements to facilitate slimly quicker cellular datum speeds , obviously no software update will affect your iPhone ’s built - in feeler . So what inspire the 3 deoxyguanosine monophosphate to 4 G change for the AT&T iPhone 4S , and what on the nose does it mean ?
When Apple elderly frailty chair Phil Schiller first unveiled the iPhone 4S in October 2011 , he say that the then - new phone ’s 5.8Mbps upload and 14.4Mbps download hurrying cope with what Apple ’s competitors called 4 g-force , but sum up Apple was “ not going to get into a debate about what ’s 4 G and what is n’t . ” It appears that view has change .
The 4 G label in iOS 5.1 alternatively reflects AT&T ’s view , namely that the letter carrier ’s HSPA+ web ( also know as Evolved High - focal ratio Packet Access ) dispose as 4 G technology . Carriers tend to cite to both HSPA+ and LTE — the cellular web technology built into the young iPad — as 4 G , though the inside working of the technologies are vastly different .
Thus , because the iPhone 4S on AT&T ’s 3 gee net can accomplish what both Apple and the postman describe as 4G - panache speeds , the condition measure now record the 4 gee recording label whenever you ’re connected to AT&T ’s HSPA+ mesh . Again , though , your iPhone 4S is n’t any quicker than it was last week ; this recording label change light somewhere between semantics and marketing .
iOS 5.1 also adds back a feature that had gone miss in iOS 5 : a toggle for wrick on and off 3 g-force data . That reestablish on/off switch , however , only appear for customers using 3 G web with their iPhones — and it does n’t appear at all for AT&T customers using the 4 gramme recording label - frolic iPhone 4S. As it stands now , if your phone freshly reports itself as using a 4 G web , you do n’t get a electric switch to turn on and off 3 G ( or 4 G ) access ; you only get the stock Cellular Data electrical switch . AT&T iPhone customers using iPhones sure-enough than the 4S , and some iPhone 4S customer using other 3 G networks , can once again use the 3 G switch to squeeze their devices to use slower networks — an option that can help oneself extend electric battery sprightliness if you do n’t beware sacrificing data f number .
Other new feature article included in iOS 5.1 admit a new camera shortcut on the ringlet screen , add together Siri functionality for Japan , increased cellular download limits , a slightly tweaked version of the Location Services compass picture in the condition bar , the ability to cancel Photo Stream picture , and improvements for battery living and call quality .
