Apple to roll out 5G software update in December

Under pressure to push out software updates to enable 5G services on iPhone in India, Apple Wednesday said it will start rolling out the software update needed to users in December. Top government officials were scheduled to meet Apple, Samsung and other smartphone makers to nudge them to prioritise the 5G update for the Indian market where Prime Miner Narendra Modi announced the launch of services on October 1.
“We are working with our carrier partners in India to bring the best 5G experience to iPhone users as soon as network validation and testing for quality and performance is completed. 5G will be enabled via a software update and will start rolling out to iPhone users in December,” Apple said in a statement Wednesday.
Apple is known to be finicky about user experience and this could be why it will take time to test the services available in India and how it works on its devices. At the moment, Apple’s iPhone 14, iPhone 13, and iPhone 12 series phones as well as the iPhone SE (3rd generation) models are compatible with 5G. These devices will be getting the software update in December.
While network providers have announced the launch of 5G services, smartphone makers will still need to test how their devices are performing on the bands available in India. They will need to check for bugs and incorporate fixes in their software updates to ensure that user experience is not impacted.
Speaking to last week, Airtel Chief Technology Officer Randeep Sekhon said Apple is currently testing 5G in India and the network has “set up special networks for them to test”. Most of the other handset manufacturers are already supporting the 5G services rolled out Airtel, Sekhon said.