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]
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
26 responses to “Swedish Carrier Says the iPhone 5 Won’t Be Able to Compete Without LTE”
Now that the Swedish carrier SVP has spoken, I am sure apple will take notice.
LTE is super fast… but even without it Apple will sell a ton of iPhone 5 devices
One should probably not take advice from telia Sonera……
They keep making wrong turns in a square room themselves….
4G is so over hyped, I access a webpage in around 4 seconds on 3G. Do I really care if I can access it 2 seconds faster? Is it worth the drop is battery life to save 2 seconds? Even the extra 10 seconds it takes to buffer a video hardly seem to justify 4G. Its like 3D TVs, sounds cool and hyped to death. But far from necessary.
From Wikipedia – “The world’s first publicly available LTE-service was opened by TeliaSonera in the Scandinavian capitals Stockholm and Oslo on 14 December 2009.” Show some respect for them plz..
I wont be switching. Don’t want LTE if the battery only lasts 4-5 hours. Apple will implement it when it’s the right time.
Shows a great misunderstanding of the American Market. AT&T won’t even be doing a full rollout of LTE until late next year and if they don’t get the T-Mobile deal they me just stamp their feet and slow down LTE deployment further. Sprint is basically in the same boat. And T-Mobile simply isn’t going to do anything to upgrade their network in the States period.
LTE won’t be a factor in the U.S. until 2014 I’m guessing.
That’s kind of the point though. This guy is just upset that the 4s doesn’t have LTE because in Europe they are ahead of the curve in terms of LTE adoption. If it did have LTE, he’d be all over it and Apple would no doubt be a great company in his eyes.
That’s kind of the point though. This guy is just upset that the 4s doesn’t have LTE because in Europe they are ahead of the curve in terms of LTE adoption. If it did have LTE, he’d be all over it and Apple would no doubt be a great company in his eyes.
Make 3G operate at the intended speeds first …. Then implement 4G LTE
2014? Woah.. I don’t understand why the U.S. is so behind on this. And it’s sad that it affects the rest of the world in the way that it does. I would have loved an LTE iPhone right now because in Sweden we already have LTE coverage of all main cities and by next year over 600 towns will have LTE networks. I’m just disappointed that there’s no phone to use with the network :( Also too bad Nokia didn’t put LTE in the N9 :/
We have to push the technology forward, not just be happy with what we’ve got…
Dude, really? Quit whining. America is almost 22 times the size of Sweden…of course domestic rollout here of 4G LTE will take longer. Because of its size (and some mobile corporate greed), the American mobile industry has always been behind the rest of the world in terms of new mobile technology deployment. (And this country still has some pretty rural areas where even a full 3G rollout is still waiting to happen.) 2014 looks promising for widespread deployment.
You don’t have to wait for Apple either. If you’re ready for 4G now, there’s plenty of decent 4G Android and soon-to-be-released WP7 models to choose from.
I agree that LTE is not essential just yet … Apple is conservative with their tech introductions but their stuff works when its introduced … I personally would not give up battery life for the extra speed.
With a quick and possible 3 million iPhone 5 orders in Sweden, I do think they listed just a little. Swedes are early adopters of technology, mostly because they have the income vs third wold USA (yeah I’m an expat).
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