Does Apple limit data speeds on some U.S. carriers?

According to a person who provides hacks for the Apple iPhone, a code was found on iOS that effectively lowers the data speed on three U.S. wireless carriers. Joseph Brown says that he has found code on the Apple iPhone and Apple iPad running on Verizon, Sprint and AT&T that limits the speed of the devices. For example, Brown claims to have found code on the AT&T branded Apple iPhone 5 that limits the device to a much lower speed than the phone is capable of reaching.

Brown also spotted the code for the iPhone 5 running on Verizon's 4G LTE network. While the code did not appear for Sprint's 4G LTE service, it does appear for the Apple iPhone 5 using Sprint's Ev-Do 3G pipeline. Brown also added that T-Mobile appears not to be affected because it uses different frequencies for LTE and HSPA+.

The resulting slowdown in data speeds that the code leads to is akin to throttling. Brown believes that because Apple is running its own OS on its phone and tablet, the code could have been placed there at the request of the carriers. The hacker says, "The (Apple) OS eats much more data, even when in idle mode, than most phones on the market. So by carrier request, Apple limits devices to 'even out' the network, even if it means Galaxy users out perform Apple devices by such large scales."

This is denied by Verizon. Spokeswoman Brenda Rainey said that Verizon does not throttle although she did admit that when high volume 3G users are connected to a congested cell site, Verizon will temporarily manage the speed of that person's data. As for the code allegedly written into iOS, "For that, you would have to call Apple."


source: CNET