The iPhone 5 doesn’t just have a lighter, thinner construction, though. As rumored, it also has “ultrafast wireless.” Yep, that means LTE.
“Ultrafast wireless technology. You can imagine the challenge our team faced: thinner, smaller… ” says Schiller coyly. Despite this, “we’ve added HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, and yes, LTE.”
“Ultrafast wireless technology. You can imagine the challenge our team faced: thinner, smaller… but we’ve added HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, and yes, LTE.”
Apple’s officially calling this technology “ultra-fast wireless technology.” They aren’t saying as much, but this is all clearly meant to stop from being sued in countries without LTE standards, like what happened to Apple in Australia when they released it as the iPad with Wi-Fi and 4G. Most countries still don’t have true LTE, so they can’t make a big deal about that, hence the hedging.
Apple confirms that AT&T, Verizon and Sprint iPhone 5s will all have LTE. You’re only going to want the Verizon one.
(This story is developing.Check back for updates.)
Image: GDGT
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.
