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LTE Unlikely to Arrive in iPhone Until at Least Q3 2012

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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In what should have come as no surprise to most observers, Apple yesterday introduced its new iPhone 4S without LTE 4G capabilities. The company had previously acknowledged that the first generation of LTE chips had required handset design compromises that Apple was unwilling to make, and analysts had noted that Apple-suitable LTE chips weren't likely until early 2012.

AnandTech takes a closer look at the status of LTE chip development, describing how a slower-than-expected transition to new 28-nanometer chip processes has left a number of companies unable to release the devices they had originally hoped to launch in 2011.
As you may have heard however, the move to 28nm at both TSMC and Global Foundries isn't really going all that smoothly. The jump from 4x-nm to 28nm is a very big one, so it's not unexpected to have pretty serious teething problems as the process ramps up. I suspect that an aggressive 28nm roadmap that didn't pan out probably caught a lot of SoC and smartphone vendors in a position where they couldn't ship what they wanted to in 2011.
Click to expand...
As in earlier reports regarding Apple's likely LTE chip plans, AnandTech points to Qualcomm's MDM9615 modem as the chip to watch for. The MDM9615 will be the first chip to offer both LTE and voice services in a single chip.

qualcomm_lte_roadmap.jpg



But with the MDM9615 not scheduled to begin shipping in quantity until the second quarter of next year, AnandTech suggests that an LTE-enabled iPhone wouldn't appear until the third quarter of 2012.
Qualcomm's current roadmaps show the 28nm MDM9615 arriving in Q2 2012. The 9615 finds itself in a smaller 10x10mm package and is voice enabled as well. Apple (and all other smartphone makers) could replace the MDM6600 with the MDM9615 and have a "single chip" LTE solution for smartphones.
Click to expand...
Apple's next-generation A6 system-on-a-chip is also said to be on track for a second quarter debut, and while such a schedule raises questions about Apple's plans for the iPad 3, it would line up nicely to allow Apple to launch a new iPhone based on the A6 and LTE about a year from now.

Article Link: LTE Unlikely to Arrive in iPhone Until at Least Q3 2012
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/05/lte-unlikely-to-arrive-in-iphone-until-at-least-q3-2012/
lshaner

lshaner

macrumors regular
Mar 7, 2007
155
1
Right... There really was no realistic expectation that the new iPhone, this year, (yesterday) would include 4G/LTE -- the lower power consuming, smaller foot-print chips simply were not available in time.
 
T

troop231

macrumors 603
Jan 20, 2010
5,822
553
Yep, so the next iPhone will launch around the same time next year with the new LTE chip perhaps, October 2012. iPad 3 with A6 will come out early 2012, with scattered Mac upgrades throughout the year. IMO, this seems like the way Apple is going for product refresh cycles now.
 
K

KPOM

macrumors P6
Oct 23, 2010
18,031
7,872
Leave it to Anand to breathe some common sense into tech reporting. Too bad he doesn't comment more before the rumor mill goes crazy.
 
Consultant

Consultant

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,314
34
Does it matter if Apple 4S is as fast as the other 4G phones
(but with the iPhone has much longer battery life)
 
A

applefan289

macrumors 68000
Aug 20, 2010
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The is why they waited until October for the 4S.

This is why they waited until October for the 4S. So that it could be a one-year wait from the pervious iPhone. They probably want to pack the LTE in the iPhone 5 next October when it's ready.
 
NebulaClash

NebulaClash

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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_10 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8E600)

Right, it shouldn't have come as a big surprise, but when I said this exact thing in the spring I was inundated by knowledgable MR forum members assuring me rudely I was wrong.

Don't talk about a 4S! No such thing! This is what the majority told me.

Lesson: Sometimes (even often) the majority is wrong.
 
chrmjenkins

chrmjenkins

macrumors 603
Oct 29, 2007
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This is just one of the many reasons TSMC's 28nm process is so tapped out. Everyone wants in on it early to get a leg up on everyone else and yields are low early on. Apple likely reserved a large chunk of TSMC's capacity to get the A6 ready for next Spring, which I'm guessing will be a die shrink and speed tweak of the A5, leaving power headroom for LTE solutions.

Perhaps apple will surprise with a quad core A9 architecture or some architecture using the A15 core.
 
T

TallGuy1970

macrumors 6502
Jun 16, 2010
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This is exactly why I won't be upgrading my 4 to a 4S. I am not eligible for an upgrade until March 1, and I don't want to be stuck in a two-year contract on that date when LTE and possibly a whole new redesign will be coming 6-7 months after that.

I can live without Siri and a better camera for a few months if it means I can get LTE and possibly more goodies come October 2012. :D
 
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NebulaClash

NebulaClash

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This is precisely why I was willing to buy a 4 a year ago. Not only do I get a grandfathered unlimited plan on Verizon, my upgrade date will be just when the LTE iPhone is released.
 
Frankied22

Frankied22

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I've had the iPhone 4 on AT&T since it came out, but I will be getting the 4S. Why you ask? Because AT&T can take their overpriced plans and capped data and shove it up their ***. Sprint with unlimited data and an overall cheaper bill, here I come. I will just sell my current 32g iPhone 4 and be out nothing. Simple.

Now, who wants to speculate as to how slow the iPhone will be on sprints network or how bogged down it will become ? Lol
 
W

WhoDaKat

macrumors 6502
May 20, 2006
379
665
So sick of the haters!

File this under obvious. For those of us with half a brain and the ability not to be distracted by shiny objects, it was fairly obvious what Apple was releasing yesterday. These ridiculous expectations people are living with are absurd.

Yeah, they are going to completely redesign the best selling handset in the world after one generation. That is so howl at the moon stupid, I just don't get where people actually believed it. How do you people put pants on in the morning without help?

The iPhone 4 design is legen... wait for it... dary! A glass and stainless steel sandwich? Come one! I'd rather see Macs starting to copy that then the iPhone going unibody (snore). I hate design changes just for the sake of design changes, especially when the design is the iPhone 4!

And for the love of god, if you want a giant screen, buy a freaking iPad. I'd like to keep my phone in my pocket without a giant bulge (ok without another one lol yeah right!)

Am I the only one out there that doesn't want to change the form factor? Am I the only one that doesn't care about a giant screen on my phone?

Bottom line, haters gotta hate!
 
S

sk58781111

macrumors member
Oct 7, 2010
93
0
apple is more concerned with stock price than innovation. i'll pick up a nexus prime in the meantime.
 
T

TheSandman2236

macrumors 6502
Mar 11, 2008
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Atlanta, GA
Also -- I'm sure it was an incredibly minor process creating the 4S. Take the VZW iPhone manufacturing process (as it uses the same chassis) -- swap out the optics, and replace the CPU and radio. They've been working on the iPhone 5 since the release of the iPad 2. (Work on the A6 etc). I've learned a lot from having family in the auto industry -- they work on production models that will be released in 2017.
 
NebulaClash

NebulaClash

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sk58781111 said:
apple is more concerned with stock price than innovation. i'll pick up a nexus prime in the meantime.
Click to expand...

Said the day after Apple demonstrates Siri. Heh, people will remember this event for years to come. It's big even if the pundits haven't seen it yet.
 
_Refurbished_

_Refurbished_

macrumors 68020
Mar 23, 2007
2,333
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I believe Siri / iCloud are the two reasons the phone got delayed. The hardware was the easy part this year, but the software needed time to mature. Siri is still in BETA as we speak.

On top of that, pushing the phone back this year makes sense for future releases. It's a win, win for Apple, but a loss for everyone still running around with a 3GS :).
 
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