Next Generation of Apple iPhone 5S /5C Should Boost HD Voice

When Apple rolled out "wideband voice" support – HD voice – on the iPhone 5 last year, carriers around the world tied their launches of HD voice service to the introduction of the new handset. Today's introduction of the iPhone 5S and 5C should accelerate HD voice adoption in the mobile world for two to three key reasons.

First: A background tutorial on HD voice and the iPhone family. The iPhone 4, 4S, and 5 all have the hardware capable of supporting HD voice on any GSM-based 2G or 3G network, so it is a matter of getting AMR-WB codec support turned on in the phone (software) and in the carrier's network. Apple's first official support of AMR-WB came with the rollout of the iPhone 5 in September 2012. A couple of months ago, the iTweakiOS team has deployed a hacked version of Apple iOS for supporting HD voice on the iPhone 4 and 4S on AT&T and T-Mobile US networks.

Sprint's iPhone 5 doesn't support HD voice on its Qualcomm 3G CDMA 1X Advanced network. It is not clear if or when Apple will design support for 1X Advanced, despite Sprint's multi-year, multi-billion dollar commitment to sell iPhones.

Anything in the iPhone 5 family with an LTE modem should support Voice over LTE (VoLTE) with the appropriate software upgrade/support; VoLTE has AMR-WB built into the specification so it delivers HD voice by default. Apple has not officially rolled out software support for VoLTE but it would be quite remarkable if they didn't support the 4G network standard being rolled out around the globe.

The new line of Apple iPhones have been officially announced for NTT DoCoMo while China Mobile is expected to have its own announcement in the near future. Both carriers are rolling out LTE networks, so the new model handsets will most likely support VoLTE when the service is turned up.   I also wouldn't rule out one or more carriers timing the rollout of HD voice support to the introduction of the new iPhone models.

Apple's introduction of the mid-range iPhone 5C will bring more bargain-priced mass market customers into the fold. Anyone that wants an iPhone experience who can't afford the top line iPhone 5S now has access to an entry-level offering that includes HD voice as a part of the package.

Finally, numerous companies are moving to aggressive trade-in/trade-up phone programs. T-Mobile US clearly has the best carrier plan in the States for a new phone upgrade, but Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, Walmart, and a number of third parties are pitching trade-in programs. Customers walk out with new phones and/or cash, depending on the program, while "gently used" phones get refurbished, repackaged and sold.