
Apple may implement LTE into iPhones in 2012.
It's a rumor that has been circulating for months with the upcoming iPhone 5. News sites of all kinds reported on the iPhone 5 having a 4 inch screen and even 4G support. But, is it really a rumor anymore? Well, yes, but the iPhone 5 didn't even end up coming out this year. The iPhone 4S brought the popular style of the iPhone 4 back into the market with supercharged guts including an A5 dual core processor, 8 megapixel camera, and dual core GPU.
The iPhone 5 is expected to be the next iPhone. Steve Jobs' last contribution to the company is said to have been the design on the iPhone 5. Engineers at Apple will continue to build and improve whatever it is that they are said to be building, but the next iPhone is said to come with something that a lot of us wanted for the iPhone 4S; 4G LTE.
No one wants to believe that HSPA+ is 4G, and to technical standards, it really is 3.5G. However, we reported that AT&T is marketing the iPhone 4S as a 4G smartphone on their website. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) states that the definition of 4G service is to include WiMax, LTE and HSPA+. So as of late, it technically can be considered a 4G phone. But, users want something more; LTE. One of the biggest reasons for this is because the CDMA networks don't have any 4G support on the iPhone. Only the GSM carrier, AT&T, has the ability to serve HSPA+ service to those who own the iPhone 4S.
Apple to the rescue, "Nokia, Apple, RIM and Sony Ericsson are expected to join the LTE club in 2012 as more telecom service providers around the globe are also going to launch LTE services in the coming year" (DigiTimes). Apple, among others, are said to be experimenting this very minute with LTE technology. The hopeful candidate for future cellular service in Apple's handsets. Sprint, which currently has a WiMax 4G network, is expected to roll out LTE services sometime next year. Since Verizon has it already, both of Apple's CDMA carriers will have LTE-ready services for this proposed LTE iPhone 5.
Why didn't Apple implement LTE into the iPhone 4S though? Why did they wait this long? Apple's Tim Cook answers that by saying that at this point in time, LTE would have caused poor battery life on Apple's handsets. This is the case with almost any LTE phone, of course. Anyone who picks up an HTC Thunderbolt and runs around using heavy loads of 4G LTE knows that their battery percentage commits suicide. Same with an HTC Evo on Sprint's WiMax network. So maybe Apple is finally finding a way around this issue and we will have an iPhone 5 to look forward to next year.
Will you buy or upgrade to the iPhone 5 if it has 4G LTE? Still no word about a larger screen. Share below!
Sources: DigiTimes
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