What the cellular, Wi-Fi, and satellite symbols mean on your iPhone or iPad - Macworld

The upper-left and sometimes upper-right country of your iPhone oregon iPad show does a batch of enactment packing successful meanings utilizing symbolic shorthand. Apple has utilized since the iPhone’s instauration a fewer letters oregon a tiny graphic to fto you cognize astatine a glimpse the performance, nature, and prime of your net signal.

But with truthful galore generations of cellular exertion successful usage and truthful galore symbols involved, tin you decipher them all? Here’s your usher to knowing the oldest to newest U.S. symbols. (See figure.)

Generations of cellular and Wi-Fi icons that you tin work explained successful the main article.

Cellular generations started with an analog service, present called 1G. The archetypal integer service, 2G is our starting point:

• G, E, 3G: These symbols correspond 2G, 2.5G (EDGE), and 3G. EDGE was a span exertion that aggregated 2G cellular channels for greater throughput, utilized by Apple successful iPhones earlier the institution felt 3G chipsets were debased vigor capable to deploy without draining batteries quickly. 2G, 2.5G, and 3G networks person either unopen down oregon person deadlines to unopen down successful astir countries that person deployed 4G and 5G networks. These aboriginal flavors utilized frequence ranges inefficiently, and carriers privation to usage them present to transportation overmuch much data.
• 4G: Really a faster mentation of 3G, it was much of a selling label–about 6Mbps downstream and little than 2Mbps upstream. You whitethorn inactive spot this connected immoderate networks and telephone models. It’s much apt you’ll see, however…
• LTE oregon 5GE: Both technologies usage 4G protocol–the “5G” successful “5GE” is axenic marketing–which offers up to tens of megabytes per 2nd downstream and respective Mbps upstream. They were evolutionary steps connected the roadworthy to true…
• 5G: The 5G icon appears erstwhile connected to a 5G web that astir overlaps frequencies antecedently utilized for LTE. T-Mobile uses it to bespeak its “extended range” network, arsenic their 5G upgrade allows a greater high-speed sum country than LTE cellular transmitters successful the aforesaid locations. Data rates are somewhat speedier than LTE, but not lightning fast.
• 5G oregon 5GUC: Depending connected your bearer and region, you mightiness spot either 5G oregon 5GUC for connections that tin tally from 100 to 300 Mbps downstream.
• 5GUW: In the United States lone (for now), different mentation of 5G uses a precocious frequence oregon millimeter question set that tin connection up to 1Gbps, and immoderate carriers telephone this “ultrawideband.” For that spirit Apple confusingly shows 5G+; for others, 5GUW.
• Cell/satellite: The icon astatine acold near is acquainted from decades of its appearance. The fig of bars indicates awesome strength. If you person either a SIM and eSIM oregon 2 eSIMS active, the second-from-left icon shows awesome spot for the superior web connected apical and secondary connected the bottom. The dot beneath the barroom indicates the secondary network’s awesome strength. With iOS 16/iPadOS 16, Apple enhanced a “No Service” statement erstwhile there’s nary awesome to work “SOS” with dots beneath it erstwhile different cellular web whitethorn beryllium disposable for exigency calls. If you have an iPhone 14 successful a state that supports it, the icon astatine acold close that shows a outer appears erstwhile you prosecute Emergency SOS via satellite.
• Wi-Fi: The acquainted Wi-Fi waves amusement a weak, moderate, oregon beardown transportation (left). The halfway icon oddly has thing to bash with Wi-Fi performance: it appears erstwhile you person Wi-Fi Calling enabled and you’re connected to a Wi-Fi web that allows it to work. The icon astatine right, 2 overlapping chains, indicates the iPhone is connected to the Internet via tethering. (This includes Wi-Fi for a Personal Hotspot, Bluetooth, and USB.)

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