Carriers Testing LTE-Enabled iPhone?

[maconservative]

This

I've been testing an LTE device for work-- the LG Revolution. I understand completely why Apple is reluctant to adopt the technology. The phone is a piece of crap. I take it off the charger at 8 AM, the battery is dead by 1 PM with very light use. The phone is enormous, and thicker than the original iPad. LTE isn't available everywhere, so a lot of the time the phone is on 3G anyways. And finally, the phone can't smoothly transition from 4G->3G or 3G->4G; there's a small period where the phone will actually drop the connection for a second and pages will refuse to load.

I won't be complaining in the slightest if Apple holds out til 2012 for LTE.

I test drove an HTC Thunderbolt when they were first released. Under light use, off the charger at 7 AM, back on the charger at noon-1 PM. Under heavy use, recharging three to four times a day between 7 AM and 10 PM.

Granted, OS differences and hardware differences abound between HTC and Apple. But, this battery life on an iPhone? No thanks.

 

[Shrink]

I don't know if it is a fair standard of comparison, but I had Verizon's 4G LTE internet service for my computer. It was so buggy and unreliable I dumped it. Constant problems. It would break down all the time, and you can imagine how wonderfully efficient Verizon's tech support and repair service was.

 

[shadrap]

I don't know if it is a fair standard of comparison, but I had Verizon's 4G LTE internet service for my computer. It was so buggy and unreliable I dumped it. Constant problems. It would break down all the time, and you can imagine how wonderfully efficient Verizon's tech support and repair service was.

Maybe in your area, but in mine it works outstanding. Minimum of 12 Mbps down and usually getting 20 Mbps. Plus the coverage is large in NC. I will be one of the ones jumping ship for a while until an LTE enabled iPhone is launched. I love iOS, but I will make do with android using either the Bionic or GS2.

Also, they are saying the Bionic is getting 15 hours of battery life with moderate use. Guess we will see.

 

[haddman]

Steve probably does.

Do you think anyone else's opinion really matters?

In any case, few people benefit from LTE right now on this planet as there are only a handful of operational LTE networks. A few markets in the United States (on one carrier), Scandinavia, a few other spots. Not enough to justify including the technology this year. Maybe next year when continental Europe, southeast Asia, Canada, UK, Australia have functional LTE networks.

But not today.

Verizon will have like 75% of their US markets covered with LTE, so that's a fairly large footprint, and AT&T is supposed to have it in 15 markets by the end of the year, so even they will have many major cities covered. Verizon has already over 100 markets and will be over 175 by the end of the year. I'm not saying it WILL happen, but it's not so far-fetched that it could happen this year vs 2012. I mean, really ,why else the big delay??

 

[cvaldes]

Because the rest of the world doesn't have LTE. You have to think like Apple does; the big picture is the global marketplace, not just the United States.

One carrier in the US, plus a handful of carriers in Scandinavia do not make a strong case to up charge all iPhone customers with hardware that won't benefit them for another year or eighteen months. Remember, half of iPhone sales go international.

Again, the most plausible course of action is for Apple to release a handset with HSPA+ capability since that cellular technology is widely deployed across the world. This is not LTE's year.

The iPhone 5 will have HSPA+ support, not LTE. That benefits the maximum number of iPhone 5 customers.

 

[cvaldes]

Wonder if the 4G will have new more expensive data plans, with lower data caps?

Maybe, maybe not.

It probably will come down to the market and the carriers involved. If there is healthy competition, I wouldn't expect to see too much of an increase since one carrier might use good 4G data pricing to generate churn, grab more customers from competitors.

You know, free market economics.

 

[lifeinhd]

Also, they are saying the Bionic is getting 15 hours of battery life with moderate use. Guess we will see.

I find that really difficult to believe. The LTE-capable LG Revolution I've been testing (explained in a previous post) is thick and has a large footprint, yet only lasts 5 hours on light use. Not to mention it's only single core, whereas the Bionic is dual core. So unless Motorola packs a small nuclear generator into the Bionic, I doubt the claims of 15 hours are accurate.

 

[JoJoCal19]

Given Apple's relatively long product cycle, and the fact that the current iteration of the iPhone is over a year old already, it would be really damaging not to have LTE in the next iPhone (4S or 5). If the new model does indeed get released in Sept/Oct, that means that it will probably be Sept. 2012 before the next model is released. By that time, LTE deployment should be in full swing, and Apple will be far behind its competitors who are already rolling out LTE-capable phones.

My entirely unfounded guess is that the energy-efficient LTE chips scheduled to roll out in early 2012 will make their debut in the iPhone 4S/5 this Fall. Apple has proven that they can get early access to new parts, and keep the manufacturers quiet about them until Apple releases a product containing them. But I guess none of us will know for sure until the next media event.

How dare you think logically!

 

[cvaldes]

And yet, he did not.

 

[shadrap]

I don't know what the Bionic has in terms of battery life, but Engadget was quoting the 15 hours. It may be a brick in size. But Motorola re-built the entire phone from the ground up to appease consumers. So it is possible.


If the iPhone doesn't have LTE. I am gonna grin and chuckle if it doesn't have HSPA+ either.

 

[dr Dunkel]

I'm really hoping for LTE - 3G speed is not enough.

 

[AppleScruff1]

If the iPhone 5 were to have LTE, it's a reason for many people to upgrade. What other features is it going to have? (Only one I can think of is a rumoured bigger screen.

It needs some big feature to encourage people to get it.

People will camp out to buy it even if there are no changes.

We know that Tim Cook has said the negatives of LTE right now is it forces compromises they are not willing to make. Obviously, apple cares about battery. I think it is an obvious, good assumption that battery is one of those compromises.....(based on Thunderbolt battery life and others). LTE chips are Not good enough for apple yet.

Maybe Apple isn't good enough for LTE?

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) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E600 Safari/6533.18.5)

I have to say, having iPhone 4G(not fourth gen) would prolly help some morons buy it. I root and jailbreak for friends, and sometimes even their friends. I was talking with...say, an aqqaintance a few months back. He said he wanted "that new Verizon 4G". At that point in time, the thunderbolt was the only LTE phone available. I said"o the thunderbolt?". He said no, the new 4G! After speaking with him for a few I figured out he was talking about the bolt. Long story short, idiots will buy it, even if the only upgrade is "4G". Because bigger is better. In their opinion

Are you talking about Apple customers?

Steve probably does.

Do you think anyone else's opinion really matters?

In any case, few people benefit from LTE right now on this planet as there are only a handful of operational LTE networks. A few markets in the United States (on one carrier), Scandinavia, a few other spots. Not enough to justify including the technology this year. Maybe next year when continental Europe, southeast Asia, Canada, UK, Australia have functional LTE networks.

But not today.

But there was enough to justify including Thunderbolt when there were no products to use the technology at all for months after it was released? Interesting. Even less people will benefit from TB, but it was a revolutionary idea, right?

 

[JoJoCal19]

Gotta laugh at all these people making statements as if they are fact and as if you know what Apple is/isn't working on or releasing soon. Glad to know we have a bunch of Apple executives and board members on MacRumors.

Fact is none of you have a clue so quit makings posts starting with "Apple isn't" or "Apple won't", because you really don't know and make yourself look really stupid.

Haven't we learned anything from all of the "Apple isn't working on/releasing a CDMA iPhone blah blah blah" threads?

 

[Ammo]

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) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E600 Safari/6533.18.5)
But, if HSPA+ is just as good or better, why is it that AT&T is trying to get their LTE network up and running? I mean, what's the point since they have HSPA+? ya know?

Because if you fall off the LTE network you fall onto HSPA+, which beats the hell out of Verizon's backup if you fall off of LTE with them.

 

[JoJoCal19]

Because the rest of the world doesn't have LTE. You have to think like Apple does; the big picture is the global marketplace, not just the United States.

One carrier in the US, plus a handful of carriers in Scandinavia do not make a strong case to up charge all iPhone customers with hardware that won't benefit them for another year or eighteen months. Remember, half of iPhone sales go international.

The rest of the world had already had well built out 3G networks when Apple decided not to include 3G in the original iPhone because, guess what, the US didn't have much of a 3G network. So you're wrong that Apple is only going to think globally.

Second, you couldn't be more wrong on your assessment of LTE coverage. I saw in another post you stated there was only a handful of markets in the US on one carrier. Really? Gee I didn't know over 100 markets was a handful. Verizon is lighting up LTE markets at breakneck speed. Even AT&T is trying to push up their schedule. By the end of 2011 there will be even more coverage than there is today.

Fact is, Apple might not put in LTE but they will only help Android keep growing if they exclude it. If they wait until fall 2012, the other cell manufacturers and carriers will keep beating us over the head with 4G marketing and pushing the amazing speeds capable on Android/other devices.

I really cannot understand why Apple would deviate from a 12 month iPhone refresh and push it out another 3-4 more months if they were only going to release an incremental update with faster proc or more memory. I think Apple might be working on something to blow us away with and put a foot on Androids throat and put a halt to their rapid marketshare increase. I honestly would not be surprised one bit if Jobs walked on stage holding up an iPhone 5 with 4+ inch screen, dual core proc, 1GB memory, 64GB storage and LTE radios, thus throwing down the gauntlets to Google/Android.

 

[haddman]

I test drove an HTC Thunderbolt when they were first released. Under light use, off the charger at 7 AM, back on the charger at noon-1 PM. Under heavy use, recharging three to four times a day between 7 AM and 10 PM.

Granted, OS differences and hardware differences abound between HTC and Apple. But, this battery life on an iPhone? No thanks.

actually with software updates the battery life on HTC Thunderbolt is much improved. Also reports on battery life on the Samsung Droid Charge have been that you can go 1-2 days. And we are talking about newer types of LTE chipsets that would offer even more improvements.

----------

The rest of the world had already had well built out 3G networks when Apple decided not to include 3G in the original iPhone because, guess what, the US didn't have much of a 3G network. So you're wrong that Apple is only going to think globally.

Second, you couldn't be more wrong on your assessment of LTE coverage. I saw in another post you stated there was only a handful of markets in the US on one carrier. Really? Gee I didn't know over 100 markets was a handful. Verizon is lighting up LTE markets at breakneck speed. Even AT&T is trying to push up their schedule. By the end of 2011 there will be even more coverage than there is today.

Fact is, Apple might not put in LTE but they will only help Android keep growing if they exclude it. If they wait until fall 2012, the other cell manufacturers and carriers will keep beating us over the head with 4G marketing and pushing the amazing speeds capable on Android/other devices.

I really cannot understand why Apple would deviate from a 12 month iPhone refresh and push it out another 3-4 more months if they were only going to release an incremental update with faster proc or more memory. I think Apple might be working on something to blow us away with and put a foot on Androids throat and put a halt to their rapid marketshare increase. I honestly would not be surprised one bit if Jobs walked on stage holding up an iPhone 5 with 4+ inch screen, dual core proc, 1GB memory, 64GB storage and LTE radios, thus throwing down the gauntlets to Google/Android.

Right on!!!

 

[deconstruct60]

I really cannot understand why Apple would deviate from a 12 month iPhone refresh and push it out another 3-4 more months if they were only going to release an incremental update with faster proc or more memory. .

what you are failing to take into account are three events that probably side tracked iPhone 5 development schedule. First, was antennagate. Even if Apple decided that the death grip was a "feature", you can bet they spent some time reducing the death grip dropoff on the iPhone 5. That is exactly the first thing some folks are going to run out and test for when the iPhone 5 comes out.

Second, the Verizon iPhone probably delayed things a bit also. Not alot since it was likely in parallel development, but Apple has been single tracking phone development for most of the iPhone's lifetime.

Third, it wasn't until last November that Apple finally got the iPad, iPhone, and Touch all synched up on the same iOS version number. Again, this will push the next rev of iOS back. It gets to developers later, which means it gets released on the new device later.

Nevermind, that Apple finally uncorked the white iPhone late in the Spring. That major design debacle got swept under the rug with Antennagate and then the Verizon release. It happened to not impact revenues. However, let's be clear, Apple screwed up big time on getting that product to market. So it isn't like engineering has been hitting on all cylinders for the last year. Think Apple was going to do that again? .... it will be White ... oh snap we can't really make them ... we'll fix it.... still stumped ... errr real soon now .... Or you think they are going to come with both in volume on day 1 ? I think the latter.


In short, there are several things besides LTE that could be holding up the iPhone 5 from the June date.

What would help the "hold for LTE" premise is a pointer to some LTE radio vendor who is shipping a 2nd generation and/or 28nm product in very high volumes in the next two months. I nobody can find one .... there in lies the problem with that theory.

 

[annyW32f]

I would bet on iPhone 6