Here's why you shouldn't buy an iPhone 12, iPhone 13 or any non-2022
5G phone on an AT&T installment plan.By Eli Blumenthal
AT&T is in the process of rolling out a new 5G midband network, but you will in fact need a higher-end flagship device to use it. On Thursday the nation's third-largest carrier walked back its pledge to upgrade older devices to support its newer 3.45GHz midband 5G.
Last month, AT&T had told CNET that it would be upgrading a host of its recent 5G devices -- including 2020's iPhone 12 series and 2021's Samsung Galaxy S21, Google Pixel 6 and iPhone 13 lines -- to support the 3.45GHz midband spectrum. The carrier spent over $9 billion acquiring the spectrum, which it plans to deploy alongside its C-band airwaves for a more robust nationwide 5G network that can better compete with T-Mobile's and Verizon's respective offerings.