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Moto Z2 Force is getting an update to enable Gigabit LTE on Verizon

The Moto Z2 Force is about to get a lot faster. A new update will enable it to use the yet to be rolled out Gigabit LTE service on Verizon Wireless.

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Published onOctober 24, 2017

The new “next big thing” for carriers to crow about is going to be Gigabit LTE service. Verizon has already announced plans to launch it later this year, while T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint have all announced or tested version as well. Gigabit LTE should bring unbelievably fast speeds, with download speeds reaching around 1 Gb/s and upload speeds up to 150 Mbps. To get those kinds of speeds, Verizon will use four carrier aggregation and leverage both licensed and unlicensed spectrum. This technology is called Licensed Assisted Access or LAA.

Several phones like the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus, HTC U11, and Moto Z2 Force all feature the hardware to see these speeds. They all have Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor and Snapdragon X16 LTE modem, but the Moto Z2 Force is the first of the bunch to get a software update to allow it to hit Gigabit speeds. And, as Verizon points out, these speeds far exceed what phones in the market today can hit.

Why is interest in new smartphones falling?

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Verizon hasn’t said when exactly the new Gigabit LTE service will launch, but it did confirm that it will be this year. Based on the timing of this update and the lack of time left in the year, we’d say it’ll probably hit pretty soon. Back in August, Verizon confirmed that it was upgrading cell sites all over the country with new hardware that can push the Gigabit speed, but the Moto Z2 Force update notes state that the service won’t be available in all areas.

In addition to updating the phone to prepare for Gigabit speeds, the software update also patched the Blueborne Bluetooth vulnerability and adds an app called AppFlash that sounds a lot like bloatware. You can head over to the link below to check out all the details.