Are you one of the Apple fans disappointed the iPhone 4S didn’t live up to the months of hype over the “iPhone 5”? Don’t worry, the hype train is still chuggin’ along, this time it’s load is full of rumors about — guess what? — yes, the “iPhone 5.”
“They’re saving iPhone 5 for the LTE version and that won’t be out until next spring,” CNET quotes Will Strauss, president of mobile chip research firm Forward Concepts. “The current batch of LTE chips from Qualcomm are too clunky and bulky for the iPhone.”
Here’s how the thinking goes, but you have to buy into each step of speculation for this to work. In April, Apple CEO Tim Cook (then Apple’s Chief Operating Officer) downplayed talk of an LTE-based iPhone, telling reporters the first version of the chips “force a lot of design compromises.” Now, layer in the fact iPhone carriers in the U.S. — AT&T, Verizon and Sprint — won’t begin to have significant LTE networks until mid-2012. Next, sprinkle in this comment from chip guru Anand Shrimpi: A second-generation version of Qualcomm’s LTE chip, the MDM9615, appears “next year (Q2 to be exact)” and could fit into “something iPhone-sized.”
Shake, bake and make a few leaps of faith and you’ve revived the “iPhone 5” rumor for several more months. Never mind that iPhone suppliers need some lead-up time to produce an LTE iPhone, allowing some leaks — none of which appear to have made it into the media. Never mind that the “iPhone 5” would come on the heels of the iPhone 4S, potentially stealing some of its thunder — and customers. Never mind these current rumors of an LTE iPhone should do wonders for Qualcomm stock. Instead, in the tech world, rumors have a way of taking on their own life, becoming more real as they spread. Need an example? For months, the tech world was absolutely certain Apple would introduce this new iPhone everyone was calling the “iPhone 5.”
In other words, don’t hold your breath. If Apple does come out with an LTE iPhone, it’s easy to predict when that’ll be: October 2012, one year after the iPhone 4S launch.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
60 responses to “Apple Could Unveil LTE iPhone 5 in Early 2012… But Won’t [Rumor]”
Wowsers
Yay. More rumors. :|
jailbreak carrier tweak
Why would they call it iPhone 5?
More like, iPhone 6 or iPhone 4G
I can already see the following lineups
2012 – 4G
2013 – 4Gs
2014 – 4Gs2
2015 – 5G ?
For f…k’s sake C of M, give it up on the rumors.
You posted 100’s of iPhone 5 rumors prior to the announcement and it was all bull, so how about giving it a miss for a while and printing something factual!
Ed’s assessment sounds realistic to me. LTE in Oct 2012 sounds plausible. It gives the market and networks time to mature. It would be surprizing if the 2013 iPhone didn’t have it. So it’s either 2012 or 2013.
Ed’s assessment sounds realistic to me. LTE in Oct 2012 sounds plausible. It gives the market and networks time to mature. It would be surprizing if the 2013 iPhone didn’t have it. So it’s either 2012 or 2013.
No. And this article is why it’s not happening until at least Q2 2012, if not Q3 2012: http://www.anandtech.com/show/…
Stop with this FUD for page views. It’s just sickening now.
Why October 2012? Wouldn’t it make more sense to move things back to their previous release schedule with the next iPhone in June 2012 and new iPods following in Sept 2012? I don’t think they would have had so much criticism if the iPhone 4S had been released in June. Ok the iPod didn’t get much of a makeover this year but I don’t think they have given up on it. With the PSP Vita and a lot of 4/5″ android devices coming out in the next 12 months the iPod is going to have a lot more competition. Maybe that will stir Apple on to give it a major makeover next year.
We just got the 4s people, can we stop with the rumours jeeezz
I thought this was a rumours site. You want them to just print the news? Would be a bit dull don’t you think? Ok they drive you crazy but I like to read the rumours. No offense intended.
I’m hoping for August 2012, cause that’s when my contract expires and I can get a new phone…
So no new phone in the spring? So those of us on the spring upgrade cycle have to wait until fall for a new phone? Does that make a lot of sense?
iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4, iPhone 4s…why wouldn’t the next be called the iPhone 5? That seems to follow their pattern. I think calling it the 4G would confuse people as a lot of people already call the iPhone 4 the 4G.
Live everything else, rumors are good in moderation. However most of the popular Apple blogs have been beating the rumor drum for so long, readers are exhausted. I agree with Ric, CoM should give it a rest. But if you like rumors, head over to Boy Genius Report. In my opinion, they publish trash that isn’t even remotely based in reality. Think of them as The Onion of the Apple blogs.
I agree – Apple doesn’t tend to want to be first in the queue with new technologies – it tends to wait until they’re ‘ready’.
What’s up with this explicit need to upgrade and renew your contract as soon the time that you are bound to it goes out?
The phone you already have will still be there (and will most likely still be a pretty darn good phone) and so will the contract…
Have you ever thought that just could be jailbroken to show cell bars instead of wifi and then name of his wireless router at home?
> “why wouldn’t the next be called the iPhone 5?”
Because the next iPhone will be the 6th iPhone, so it might be called iPhone 6….
(just like how the 4th iPhone was called iPhone 4)
Disappointed? Yes, but only because I got swept up in the iPhone 5 rumor mill. The big picture suggests that Apple played it deftly – the iPhone 4 is a gorgeous bit of tech with hi attraction, hi engagement and increasing global adoption. Nothing else comes close, so why trump it? Why mess with a winning hardware formula? Next time you’ll see it in public you’ll wonder if it’s the 4 or S. Heck, people with the 4 may pretend to Siri with it!
The game changer this time is in the guts, Apple have done it again by making something that has been around for a while but wonky, actually work. Voice control & interaction executed perfectly will open markets and wallets once people understand how much of a difference it makes. The keyboard is almost redundant, your voice is quicker and Siri becomes more customized to you the more you use it. Just amazing.
Early 2012 is definitely too soon after the release of the 4S.
Apple won’t release an LTE-enable iPhone until AT&T’s network is on par with Verizon’s LTE network. Steve Jobs is not going to leave his first wife at the altar.
Why does everyone still think the “iPhone 5” is coming out? Why on earth would Apple call they’re 6th iPhone the “iPhone 5.” We will see the “iPhone 6” in about a year. No way will Apple release it any sooner when they delayed so long on the 4S.
If Apple is waiting for AT&T to get their LTE network on-par with Verizon, then there will never be an LTE iPhone. AT&T said themselves that their LTE network will only be fully-deployed on their existing 3G network if the T-Mobile merger goes through. That is looking less and less likely. Why does AT&T need to merge with T-Mobile? Because they need their wireless spectrum. The sad truth is that AT&T does not own enough spectrum to fully build out their LTE network. Without the T-Mobile merger, their LTE network will cover 80% of the country, at best.
The only reason there isn’t an LTE iPhone is that the 2nd generation Qualcomm chipset simply isn’t available yet. It’s the original iPhone debacle all over again. Everyone was shocked that the original iPhone didn’t support 3G HSPA, even though AT&T had started to build out their 3G HSPA network. And what was the reason that Steve Jobs publicly stated? The first generation of 3G chips are “power hogs”.
Apple is a creature of habit. If you stop and reflect on their track record, it is actually pretty easy to predict the evolution of their product lines.
They didn’t call the iPhone 3GS ‘iPhone 4’ did they? Even though it was their 4th iPhone release. So why shouldn’t they call the next one ‘iPhone 5’ even though its the 6th release.
Just a simple jailbreak hack. FQ3 2012 we will see LTE.
One day after the new iPhone is revealed the rumors start up again. What’s the point? The majority of the rumors are wrong. Didn’t we learn anything a week ago?
Don’t start these rumors again man! We already have alot of disappointment from yesterday’s announcement!
WTF? iPhone 3Gs the fourth iphone? please be more factual and accurate… Don’t just comment nonsense.
Steve jobs has passed away sir
Sorry Richard, but 3GS was the third phone.
iPhone
iPhone 3G
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 4S