Cult of Mac’s reviews editor Charlie Sorrel and I have a bet going on whether or not the iPad 3 will have LTE.
I figure Apple’s got to see the impact of LTE on their iOS devices sometime, and the iPad is the perfect launch platform for it: they can sell the functionality as optional and at a premium, as they do 3G, making sure a minimum number of people get burned by a lack of LTE deployment in their area (and falling back on HSPA+ when LTE isn’t around)…. all the while the iPad 3’s biggery battery mitigates 4G power management issues.
Charlie thinks that argument’s stupid, and LTE’s far too immature to deploy. At stake is a solid buck, or half Charlie’s monthly salary, so tensions are high as the iPad 3 announcement lurches closer and closer on the calendar.
The latest report suggest that buck could very well be mine.
In a new report, Reuters claims that the iPad 3 will indeed ship with LTE:
The newest iPad will be capable of operating on a high-speed 4G “LTE,” or Long-Term Evolution network, according to a source familiar with the product. At speeds roughly 10 times faster than current 3G technology, that may go a long way toward banishing the sometimes shaky video quality of older devices.
Wishful thinking? Perhaps. LTE’s a couple years away minimum from being a global standard like 3G is. But the iPad 3 is the perfect product to test the 4G waters with, making sure that when LTE deployment is up to snuff, Apple’s got all the elements in place to launch the slimmer, less battery heavy iPhone 5 with 4G by default.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
7 responses to “Reuters: iPad 3 Comes With 4G LTE”
Apple must launch LTE devices or they will continue to fall behind to Android in terms of innovation and functionality. They’ve waited long enough, and the wait for 3G paid off immensly, but they can ill afford to wait yet another year for LTE
Other sites are already reporting this morning that Verizon LTE networks are already being crippled and begging to buy needed spectrum. Yeah LTE is so damn wonderful, riiiiight. Throw 3 million iPads onto the LTE spectrum and watch the speeds barely beat 3G
You are right, not having LTE will cripple Apple.
It makes no sense to make the iPad 3 the first iDevice with 4G LTE for the simple reason that it’s not a phone. If you really need to test the new technology out it needs to be on a device that is always using the cellular network in several areas. iPhone 5 most likely, then followed by next year’s iPad.
It won’t cripple them, and they’ll still sell a billion iPads because I think more will be wi-Fi only.
I think it will be more important to the iPhone (having LTE).
Charlie’s right…no LTE on the new iPad, but likely on the iPhone5. Apple would be wasting time and money releasing a device for a very small minority of people who would use it in an even smaller area where its offered.
Like or not, it will be LTE unless Verizon notice relates to another company’s product. VZ may be planning to offer LTE iPad with subsidy. $299 with LTE $50 data plan and other device tethering. As more and more iphone users have iPads, most will use theiriPads for heavy data use relieving some of the 3G pressure.