I know there are a lot of posts discussing whether the next iPhone will include LTE, and there are a lot of rumors swirling around. But I've yet to see anyone do this type of comparison before, so I thought it warranted a new thread. Mods, if you disagree please feel free to merge this with the relevant thread, or just direct me there and I'll post there.
A lot of people are saying one reason Apple won't include LTE is because it just isn't widespread enough yet. They cite Apple's decision to leave 3G out of the first iPhone, and wait instead until 2008 before including it. If you follow that logic, then one might determine that AT&T's 3G coverage in 2008 is a good barometer of what Apple feels is a good baseline coverage before including a new radio technology in their phone. Well, I was able to find this map from 2008:
Now, judging by AT&T's LTE coverage today, it would seem reasonable to think that Apple would not bother with LTE this year. But the big factor that changes everything is Verizon. Here's Verizon's 4G coverage today:
Am I the only one who thinks these are actually fairly similar? Throw in the fact that AT&T has service available in 5 cities, with 11 more planned to come online in the next few months and things start to get interesting. Whatever decision Apple makes they're going to have to live with for the next 9-12 months. Competition is getting much tougher than it was in 2007, where you already see plenty of Android phones either already available or coming before the end of the year with LTE. And I think Windows phones will be a factor before next summer as well. Given that, and the fact that coverage, at least on one carrier, is similar to what 3G was back in 2008 on AT&T (the only carrier then), I'm lead to believe that Apple won't rule out LTE for coverage reasons alone.
Now, there are still some BIG caveats. Can Apple get access to LTE chipsets that are small enough and meet their power usage requirements? This is an area where I have no clue at all, and it still wouldn't surprise me if Apple doesn't include LTE next week. But, I will say that if they leave it out, it certainly WON'T be because of coverage issues.
Edit to add: Credit where credit is due. The first image I found on a blog post here: AT&T 3G Coverage Map – Not A Lot of Blue!
A lot of people are saying one reason Apple won't include LTE is because it just isn't widespread enough yet. They cite Apple's decision to leave 3G out of the first iPhone, and wait instead until 2008 before including it. If you follow that logic, then one might determine that AT&T's 3G coverage in 2008 is a good barometer of what Apple feels is a good baseline coverage before including a new radio technology in their phone. Well, I was able to find this map from 2008:
Now, judging by AT&T's LTE coverage today, it would seem reasonable to think that Apple would not bother with LTE this year. But the big factor that changes everything is Verizon. Here's Verizon's 4G coverage today:
Am I the only one who thinks these are actually fairly similar? Throw in the fact that AT&T has service available in 5 cities, with 11 more planned to come online in the next few months and things start to get interesting. Whatever decision Apple makes they're going to have to live with for the next 9-12 months. Competition is getting much tougher than it was in 2007, where you already see plenty of Android phones either already available or coming before the end of the year with LTE. And I think Windows phones will be a factor before next summer as well. Given that, and the fact that coverage, at least on one carrier, is similar to what 3G was back in 2008 on AT&T (the only carrier then), I'm lead to believe that Apple won't rule out LTE for coverage reasons alone.
Now, there are still some BIG caveats. Can Apple get access to LTE chipsets that are small enough and meet their power usage requirements? This is an area where I have no clue at all, and it still wouldn't surprise me if Apple doesn't include LTE next week. But, I will say that if they leave it out, it certainly WON'T be because of coverage issues.
Edit to add: Credit where credit is due. The first image I found on a blog post here: AT&T 3G Coverage Map – Not A Lot of Blue!
