According to some documents posted on Reddit, the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro won’t have access to access 5G networks out-of-the-box in dual SIM mode. And yes, MacRumors was able to confirm this. Apparently, the documents were for Apple’s employee training. The computer pioneer will, however, release a software patch that will fix this. The update will enable 5G, even in dual SIM mode, this year.
Cupertino’s latest iPhones supports both hardware and software SIMs (eSIM) at the same time. So, you have the option to have access to two networks at once. The iPhone 12, though, only will have access to 4G LTE networks at launch when in this configuration. The internal document reads:
“Does 5G work with Dual SIM?
When using two lines in Dual SIM mode, 5G data isn’t supported on either line and will fall back to 4G LTE. If customers are using eSIM only and are on a 5G supported carrier and service plan, they’ll have 5G access.”
You will have to remove the hardware SIM, though, to access a 5G network with an eSIM. But, when Apple is issuing a patch later this year, so you probably won’t have to deal with a 4G connection or remove any SIM cards for more than a month or so. The Apple iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro are going to ship on October 23rd. After that, the iPhone mini and the iPhone Max will be follow on November 13th.
This is not too big of a deal. eSIMs are essentially a brand new technology and so is the iPhone 12 family (mostly). Things like this happen because manufactures are on strict deadlines to launch products. It’s not so much that Apple made a mistake in designing the phone. It’s not that at all. The company basically had to rush the phone out, knowing that feature would be incomplete. It also knew, however, that it could issue an OTA (Over The Air) patch and complete the job.
