Look, this is total nonsense, so take it with a grain of salt, but Apple’s carrier partner in the United Arab Emirates has just seemingly confirmed that the next iPhone will come with LTE 4G. We say no way.
Here’s what the head honcho of etisalat’s corporate communication told GulfNews:
Yes, we are in talks with most smartphone manufacturers including Apple on the rollout of the 4G handset, iPhone 5 later this year. As the first telecom organisation to roll out the 4G network, LTE, in the Middle East, we have already started talking to them for the handsets and chipsets in them.
This guy’s talking out of the wrong extremity, and here’s why: Apple is simply not going to launch an LTE handset before both Verizon and AT&T have a respectable LTE presence in the United States. Verizon’s rolled out true 4G to a good chunk of America now, but AT&T — Apple’s biggest domestic carrier partner — hasn’t even started, and won’t start until July.
With the iPhone 4S (or iPhone 5) slated to debut this September for a rumored October release, LTE simply isn’t going to be available to most customers this year. Add in the fact that LTE is a battery hog and that 4G chipsets that meet Apple’s energy standards probably won’t be available until early next year, and what you have here is a very counterintuitive and unreliable report.
