Not many of us expected Apple to introduce LTE or 4G capabilities to its fifth-generation iPhone, but according to one Swedish carrier, the Cupertino company would be killing its iPhone 5 if it doesn’t adopt LTE technology by then.
If you asked me two years ago I would have said Apple would be very important. But now it will be a bad mistake not to include LTE in the iPhone 5 as otherwise they will really be run over by the others. Apple are not unique enough and there is disappointment over the 4S – it was too small step for them.
Ljunggren did admit, however, that the current crop of LTE chips do consume too much power, which is why Apple is yet to adopt the technology, according to CEO Tim Cook. However, by 2013/14, there will be no excuse, because there will be “true LTE smartphones” by then:
I don’t think Apple will decide if LTE will fly or not. My expectation is that in 2013/14 we will really see low-end smartphones having LTE as well. The big question is what frequency bands they will put in for smartphones. They will be true LTE smartphones – not the ones that the US has right now with two radios. These drain the batteries flat very quickly as they have one LTE terminal for data and a CDMA voice terminal. It’s basically a dongle and phone that they glue together. They work – just not for long.
Despite Ljunggren’s suggestion that Apple’s iPhone 4S is a “disappointment,” and a “small step” for the company, it is lining up to be the most successful iPhone yet, with over 4 million sold in its launch weekend alone. Although the device does not boast that fancy new redesign that many rumors claimed would appear, it does feature Apple’s dual-core A5 processor, a new 8-megapixel camera, and the impressive Siri assistant, which so far looks to be enough to keep iPhone fans happy.
Will you be switching from the iPhone if it doesn’t get LTE next time around?
[via 9to5Mac]
