There are a lot of reasons why it’s unlikely that the next iPhone won’t boast true LTE speeds. For one thing, the national coverage for LTE is virtually non-existent. For another, first-gen LTE chipsets are by Apple’s own estimation far too juice hungry to go into the iPhone.
If you needed any more cold water dashed on your hopes of an iPhone 4G in September, though, consider iSuppli’s latest report. They say that an LTE chip in the iPhone would make it the bulkiest and most expensive iPhone yet.
iSuppli’s Senior Analyst Wayne Lam explained the problem in a note on Friday
“It remains to be seen whether the next Apple iPhone set for introduction in September will support 4G LTE. However, if it does, two things are clear. First the iPhone’s minuscule printed circuit board (PCB) will have to grow in size in order to support the first-generation LTE baseband processor as well as all the supporting chipset. Second, the next iPhone’s BOM value certainly will increase substantially compared to the iPhone 4 if LTE is implemented in the same manner as in the HTC ThunderBolt.”
Few, I think, would be willing to trade the iPhone’s svelte footprint and relatively affordable price (after subsidy) for a more expensive monstrosity, just for the sake of a few kbps.
2012 looks more promising, though: not only will the second-generation LTE chipsets be out by then, but AT&T and Verizon’s in utero 4G networks should have crowned by then.
[via MacWorld]
