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iOS 5.1 brings ’4G’ to AT&T iPhone 4S … kind of

By: , IntoMobile
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 at 1:29 PM
iPhone-4S-4G-Indicator

It looks like George may have been underwhelmed with iOS 5.1 hitting the App Store, but there’s a little something that I’m sure many of you will be excited about to see once you update your AT&T iPhone 4S.

As you see from the screencap I took of my iPhone 4S, the 3G indicator has now been replaced with a ’4G’ indicator. The reason for this is because the iPhone 4S meets the minimum requirement for AT&T’s 4G service at 14.4Mbps.

Now granted, the 4S doesn’t technically give you the full benefits of a true 4G service, but it’s one step closer iPhone owners will take to a true 4G iPhone until Apple decides to finally release one. Which will certainly happen now that the iPad has 4G service on both AT&T & Verizon. So for the time being, enjoy waving around your iPhone 4S in the face of people who are using 3G devices. I’m sure you’ll be the envy of every party you go to, that is, unless there’s another AT&T iPhone 4S owner there. That sure would be awkward.

About The Author

Daniel Perez

Daniel is a Jersey boy, born and raised. He currently lives in the Northern NJ area, close to New York City. He prides himself in being known as a geek and knows his way around technology. He’s the kind of person that if he can’t figure out a solution to a tech problem, it’ll keep him up at night. Daniel has experience in editorial from his previous work with Ziff Davis Media. With a strong background in the journalism field, he’ll chime in from time to time on IntoMobile to share stories of interest with the IntoMobile readers. You can follow him on Twitter @xBBx to read his ramblings on games, anime, and everything awesome.

Related Phones

Apple iPhone 4S

Apple iPhone 4S

The iPhone 4S is the upgrade of the iPhone 4 with a faster dual-core processor, better 8-megapixel camera on the back with 1080p HD video recording support, HSPA (up to 14.4Mbps on the downlink) and CDMA… Read More »

Key Features GPS Bluetooth Wifi MP3 3G Network
  • Jarrod

    Does it only say 4G or will it also show 3G when connected in areas without backhaul? And do you get speeds over 3mbps on average?

    • Daniel Perez

      I live near NYC in NJ, so I’m within the 4G umbrella thanks to being so close to New York. I just did a speed test on my phone while connected to 4G and my connection went from 4.48Mbps, 3.47Mbps, and then 5.43Mbps.

    • Anonymous

      I’m in Chicago, and I got a bump up to 3.9Mbps on SpeedTest with the 4G indicator, when previously I was around 2.6Mbps.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000160977235 Michael Schmitt

    Does anybody really care?

  • http://profile.yahoo.com/OZYFCN6IBS4P2CGU7TKHZSZYPU M

    If Steve Jobs was still alive this would not have been allowed.  Its only now a matter of time before the iphone will be branded by each carrier with apps we can’t uninstall, etc.  The reason why the iphone was so special and different. 

  • Nick

    Read the update notes and google it people, they added the 4g to reflect how a 4s is different from a 4 and “can” reach faster 4g type speed. The patch is a label change “only” and no speed update occured. Your 4s is the same speed today with update as it was yesterday without!

  • Harry

    will sprint be given the same option

    • alexis

      I hope so!!

    • Anonymous

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    • Anonymous

      my buddy’s aunt makes $79 an hour on the computer. She has been unemployed for nine months but last month her payment was $21546 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read more on this site  CashLazy.com

    • Anonymous

      my buddy’s aunt makes $79 an hour on the computer. She has been unemployed for nine months but last month her payment was $21546 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read more on this site  CashLazy.com