What Does “5G UC, 5G UW, 5G+ and 5G E” Means on My iPhone?

If you are using a smartphone with a modern cellular network, 5G icons on your status bar with various 5G naming would appear and sometimes be confusing what that really means. Definitely different 5G names ranging from 5G UC, 5G UW and 5G+ which you have seen throughout with your friends or family with different telco lines.

The most common question we would ask is “What does 5G UC, 5G UW and 5G+ actually mean?” or “Does 5G UC, 5G UW and 5G+ have different speeds?” that causes too much confusion with these names.

Therefore, we would like to help you uncover the true meanings of 5G UC, 5G UW, and 5G+, and even 5G E symbol or icons actually means with the following detailed articles.

What Do “5G+,” “5G UW,” and “5G E” Mean?

These aren’t the first letters we’ve seen added to a 5G logo. Both “5G+ and “5G UW” are similar to “5G UC” and indicate faster 5G than the standard low-band networks with long ranges.

5G Signal Bar

Shows you the signal bar strength of the connected carrier’s 5G internet data network which is 10 times faster than 4G network.

The Varieties of 5G icon might appear for USA’s iPhone:

• “5G UC” indicates a status icon which means your iPhone has connected to T-Mobile’s Ultra Capacity of 5G millimeter wave network.

• “5G+” indicates a status icon which means your iPhone has connected to AT&T’s 5G millimeter wave network.

• “5G UW” indicates a status icon that means your iPhone is now connected to Verizon’s Ultra Wideband 5G network.

• “5G E” indicates as a status icon that means, a marketing term AT&T which relabeled from the older 4G LTE network. Therefore, the “5G E” wasn’t a real 5G network which is the reality of marketing terms, but if a 5G network has connected, you shall get 5G+ or 5G UW.

To simplify that, if you saw your iPhone showing 5G icons such as 5G UC, 5G+,5G UW, or 5G icons that are all good and fast 5G signals. However if you saw the 5G E icon, it literally means now you are connected to the 4G network but labeled as the 5G E icon.

Why did I not see any 5G UC or 5G+ or 5G UW icons on my phones?

What happened outside of the USA’s iPhone when connected to a 5G network, is that the typical and only 5G logo or icon would appear on your iPhone’s status bar. If you are curious about different symbols or icons around status bar or anywhere in your iPhones, click here to find out more what that icons really means.