A China Unicom executive has just confirmed that Apple’s next iPhone will be 4G-capable. But surround air quotes around 4G, because we’re not talking LTE: we’re talking 21Mbps HSPA+ technology. In other words, marketing 4G.
This image of an AT&T van parked outside an Apple store in San Francisco has sparked speculation over whether or not the upcoming fifth-generation iPhone will have 4G/LTE capabilities. Why? Because that Apple store is closed for refurbishment, set to reopen on October 5 — a day after the rumored unveiling of Apple’s new iPhone — and is thought to be having AT&T’s LTE base stations installed inside
.
China Mobile’s chairman, Wang Jianzhou, revealed in an interview today that Apple has given the carrier a “positive answer” to its request for an iPhone compatible with 4G LTE networks.
A slew of rumors have surfaced this weekend that point towards Apple currently field-testing 4G iDevices in the wild running the latest builds of iOS 5. LTE code has been uncovered in recent beta builds of iOS 5, and speculation is that Apple could release the iPad 3 with LTE capability in early 2012.
Reports have already come out that Apple is testing LTE iPhones in the wild, and it was recently uncovered that AT&T was installing 4G equipment in Apple stores. Will we see the first 4G device from Apple in early 2012?
Well, this is juicy! Following yesterday’s report that Apple was already testing an LTE-equipped iPhone with carriers comes this insider photo, showing that AT&T is secretly installing LTE equipment in at least one retail Apple store. Whoa!
The safe bet is that the iPhone 5 will stick with 3G instead of lightning fast LTE 4G mobile broadband, but not so fast! A new report on Monday says that Apple’s 4G-capable carrier partners are already testing iPhones with LTE capability.
Of all the things we expect to see from Apple’s iPhone 5 in the coming months, it isn’t super-speedy LTE capabilities. However, China Mobile says that it has struck a deal with Apple to bring the next-genearation iPhone to its 4G TD-LTE network.
You know what they say, ignorance is bliss. According to a study by Retrevo, 34% of iPhone users believe that they already have a ‘4G’ device. AT&T and Verizon are starting to aggressively market their 4G networks, and new, 4G-equipped smartphones are hitting the shelves from iPhone competitors, like Android.
The typical consumer can be easily confused by similar numbering and phrasing in marketing, and the iPhone “4” seems to be the reason for all of this 4G confusion.
If you feel like taking AT&T’s LTE network for a spin but don’t want to wait until Apple releases a 4G iPhone? Ma Bell has just announced two new 4G LTE devices: one to hook up to your Mac, and one that can even give your iPhone or iPad true 4G speeds.
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.
Remember that Lulzsec hack the other day that showed that AT&T was already testing iPads on their next generation 4G network?
Well, there’s even more interesting information in the leak than that. Complete details about AT&T’s proposed LTE data plans make it clear that when Apple does release an iPhone or iPad 4G, prohibitive data caps, massive overage charges and automatically throttled bandwidth will be the rule of the day.
Notorious hacker group Lulzsec finished off their string of fifty high-profile server hacks yesterday with a bang: they released some AT&T internal documents that reveals that AT&T have already tested the iPad running on their next-gen 4G LTE network.
Next month, AT&T will start rolling out its LTE network in the United States, prepping the ground for the launch of an LTE-equipped iPhone in 2012. Even though Ma Bell doesn’t actually have a 4G network in place right now, though, that’s not stopping them from selling 4G phones and bragging about their 4G speeds. New legislation working its way through the house wouldn’t stop that, but would make them append a caveat: their minimum data speeds.
When the fifth-generation iPhone launches later this year, with it may come its third U.S. carrier, as sources now report that a Sprint iPhone is in advanced testing.
An LTE-capable iPhone isn’t likely to be unveiled until 2012, but when it does, you may want to sign your contract with AT&T, as early test speed results show that Ma Bell’s LTE network might be up to six times faster than Verizon’s.
Apple’s plans to launch a super-speedy LTE-enabled ‘4G’ iPhone later this year have reportedly been scuppered by a delay in manufacturing the chips, however, when the device does launch in 2012, it’s heading to China Mobile.
Dreams of getting our mucky mitts on a super speedy LTE-enabled iPhone in 2011 have just been quashed by a new report which claims Apple’s plans to release an ‘iPhone 4S’ later this year have gone down the pan.
While Apple is unlikely to release a 4G iPad until 2012 or even 2013, due to their issues with the power hungriness of current LTE modems chipsets, never underestimate Cupertino’s competitors — or their desperation to beat the iPad — to adopt an underdeveloped new technology before its time.
Meet, then, the HTC Puccini, a 10-inch LTE tablet set to debut in June. Not much is known about it, although it’s likely to be a Honeycomb tablet and support HTC’s Scribe capacitive stylus.
Otherwise, the most interesting aspect about the Puccini is that it is one of the first devices that will support AT&T’s forthcoming “true 4G” LTE network. That’s interesting not because of the Puccini, but because of what it means for Apple. When AT&T’s LTE network debuts, Apple will finally be able to support the two largest mobile providers in the country in their 4G pursuits using the same chipset.
AT&T is now offering information about their 4G HSPA+ coverage in the U.S. The cities and areas that have completed the backhaul upgrades to support this are:
●Bay Area, CA
●Greater Los Angeles, CA
●Northern, CA
●Chicago, IL
●Boston, MA
●Baltimore, MD
●Charlotte, NC
●Buffalo, NY
●Providence, RI
●Houston, TX
●Dallas, TX
●Puerto Rico
If your area has HSPA+, but not the backhaul upgrade then you will not be able to experience the new 4G network speeds. However, AT&T’s network completely supports HSPA+ and they will eventually have the backhaul upgraded everywhere else.
You can check out AT&T’s coverage map that includes 4G coverage by visiting www.att.com/network and clicking on the coverage tab. Hovering your mouse over the map will reveal the 4G HSPA+ cities and locations listed above.
Have you noticed the difference? Tell us about it by leaving a comment.
[via iClarified]
Verizon has been rolling out its new LTE mobile broadband service across America over the past couple months in a move that is thought to herald the introduction of a future 4G iPhone to their network, presumably next year. Either way, right now, there are no Verizon 4G smartphones… instead, they are selling a series of LTE 4G modems, which are regrettably only for Windows PCs… no Macs accepted.
Luckily, it seems that the plucky hacking community has already managed to put themselves together an unofficial workaround to the situation, bringing 4G support to OS X for the first time… at least for the Pantech UML290.
The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal both agree that a CDMA iPhone is coming to Verizon in January, and their agreement on the matter has one of Apple’s strategic leaks written all over it. But when the iPhone comes to Verizon, will it be boasting 4G mobile internet speeds?
Don’t count on it, says Steve Cheney of Techcrunch, who reports that the Verizon iPhone to debut in January will be unable to access Verizon’s LTE network.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal threw some more sparks at the kindling of the rumored Verizon iPhone, claiming that it was conclusively on track for debut in the first quarter of 2011.
Personally, I wasn’t inclined to believe the rumor. It was only two weeks ago that Verizon’s own CEO said that the iPhone wouldn’t be coming to their network until they had their 4G network in place, claiming that the wireless carrier needed to “earn” the iPhone.
Today, though, I’m ready to change my tune due to two new revelations. The first is that Verizon has announced that they would be rolling out 4G to 38 cities this year, and start showing off 4G-capable smartphones at CES in January 2011. That makes a 4G Verizon iPhone next year possible, even within the Wall Street Journal’s optimistic first quarter timeframe.
