iPhone 12 Lineup Enables Personal Hotspot Over Faster 5GHz Wi-Fi

As noted by MacRumors contributor Steve Moser, and confirmed by Aaron Zollo, the iPhone 12 lineup introduces support for Personal Hotspot tethering over faster 5GHz Wi-Fi, compared to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi on previous iPhones.

iphone mac hotspot
Personal Hotspot over 5GHz Wi-Fi is enabled by default on all iPhone 12 models. In the Settings > Personal Hotspot menu on these devices, there is a new "Maximize Compatibility" toggle that reverts Personal Hotspot to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi when enabled, with Apple noting that this may reduce internet performance on devices that are connected to the hotspot.

iphone 12 personal hotspot 5ghz
The combination of iPhone 12 models supporting higher-speed 5G networks and 5GHz Wi-Fi's higher maximum throughput paves the way for faster Personal Hotspot, but testing will have to be done to confirm the exact speed improvements. Keep in mind that while 5GHz Wi-Fi is faster than 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, it has shorter range, so Personal Hotspot speeds will vary based on the distance of a tethered device to the iPhone.

Personal Hotspot allows an iPhone's cellular data connection to be shared with other devices like a Mac over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Lightning.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

poematik13 Avatar
45 months ago
They should have gone over this in the keynote, it's actually a big deal
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thadoggfather Avatar
45 months ago
This phone rocks

it may legit be the biggest year over year upgrade in my eyes.

except maybe 3GS to 4.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
45 months ago
I'm a bit irritated that Apple is holding this feature back on prior iPhones; they have the hardware to do personal hotspot on 5GHz bands.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dmylrea Avatar
45 months ago

Here's the Downside to this, if you're a Verizon customer, as I am.

Even with their Top Tier UN-limited option, customers are limited to ONLY 30 GB per month of Hotspot Data, before it gets throttled-down to ONLY 600 Kbps !

So whether your Wi-Fi is 2.4 GHz OR 5 GHz, OR your cellular connection is Fast OR NOT, it doesn't really matter, Users are Forced to Self-Throttle their activities !

Otherwise, you can burn thru your allotment Fast !

Verizon should really increase the monthly HotSpot limit to 45 GB, 50% more !
I don't understand why people think that if their internet is faster, they will use more data? Movies and media consume the same amount of data whether it's LTE or 5G. There are only so many hours in a month. You can't be mass-downloading stuff to your phone. Email, web, etc., still the same amount of data, just faster. Like if the city put bigger water pipes in the street outside your house, are you going to use more water just because the pipes are bigger?

Please explain how faster internet is going to make you use more?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gretafour Avatar
45 months ago
5GmmWave: it’s like Wifi but only works outside down the street!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
45 months ago
This is basically a cool surprise.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Friday April 12, 2024 11:11 am PDT by
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
Delta Feature

Delta Game Emulator Now Available From App Store on iPhone

Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
iOS NES Emulator Bimmy Feature

NES Emulator for iPhone and iPad Now Available on App Store [Removed]

Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
iGBA Feature

Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator iGBA From App Store Due to Spam and Copyright Violations

Sunday April 14, 2024 9:22 pm PDT by
Apple today said it removed Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store for violating the company's App Review Guidelines related to spam (section 4.3) and copyright (section 5.2), but it did not provide any specific details. iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut's open-source GBA4iOS app. The emulator rose to the top of the App Store charts following its release this weekend,...
iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Translate

All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:54 am PDT by
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
iGBA Feature

Game Boy Emulator for iPhone Now Available in App Store Following Rule Change [Removed]

Sunday April 14, 2024 8:06 am PDT by
A week after Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to permit retro game console emulators, a Game Boy emulator for the iPhone called iGBA has appeared in the App Store worldwide. The emulator is already one of the top free apps on the App Store charts. It was not entirely clear if Apple would allow emulators to work with all and any games, but iGBA is able to load any Game Boy ROMs that...