Despite Sprint reportedly taking a $20 billion gamble to get into the iPhone game, Apple’s new iPhone 5 won’t work on 4G networks. The new handset won’t operate on LTE or other 4G networks which are just starting to roll out, according to the Wall Street Journal.
It’s something we’ve been saying for a year: an LTE or 4G iPhone is impossible until 2012 at the minimum.
“According to people familiar with the company’s plans, the hotly anticipated device won’t operate on long-term evolution or WiMAX fourth-generation networks,” the paper reported Tuesday morning. However, the device will work on current 3G networks, including AT&T’s HSPA+ system which the carrier likens to 4G.
Sprint reportedly has spent $20 billion, agreeing to buy 30.5 million iPhones over the next four years. The carrier will offer a $500 subsidy for each phone, usually costing $655, according to the Journal.
The reports could lend credence to an earlier wild rumor that the new handset would be offered as a Sprint exclusive with AT&T and Verizon first getting the iPhone 4S, then the newer iPhone during the first quarter of 2012.
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.
8 responses to “The iPhone 5 Won’t Run on Sprint’s 4G Network [Report]”
no 4G, no NFC, no iPhone.
You’ve got to be kidding.
hi
I never bought the rumor. Not because I think Sprint sucks or is stupid. But because of the timing. This came really late in the game.
I think the truth is that Sprint is chasing next years iPhone and this is the support they pledged to Apple to try to get it. They would need to start early so Apple has time to work out the tech details. A year ahead sounds about right