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LTE Unlikely to Arrive in iPhone Until at Least Q3 2012

TheSandman2236 said:
You do realize that the antenna design is the same as the Verizon iPhone right? The camera is a separate component that is not locked to the PCB. Not to mention Apple doesn't even make it. Batter life is managed with software & hardware. We're not seeing a larger batter here.
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The antenna in the VZ phone is actually two antenna that intelligently switch between themselves to send and receive? Funny they didn't try to sell that point when the launched the 4...

https://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/04/iphone-4s-includes-significant-antenna-upgrades/

Why does it matter if the camera is locked to the PCB or not? Or why does it matter that Apple doesn't make the camera itself? They are still improved, right? They are still inside the same form factor, right? LOL does Apple make anything inside of the phone? Again, better battery performance. I don't care how they get it, the point is they got it and kept it inside the same form factor.

You said it was incredibly minor to update these things, and I believe that means you don't know what you are talking about. Enjoy your day! :)
 
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ChrisNM said:
So what exactly does that mean to the end user? If I use my phone primarily just for calls and email, does it make that much of a difference to me?

I would like to get a 4S from Verizon (because reception on AT&T is not great where I live) but it is unclear to me if absence of LTE is really that big of a deal for me given how I use the phone.
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Given how you use your phone, feature phone would probably be the best option :) If you do not need high data transfer speeds, lack of LTE obviously is not your concern. The only (minor) issue is that without LTE you can't use data and voice simultaneously.
 
lilo777 said:
iPhone 4S is much slower than LTE Android phones on Verizon, WiMax Android phones on Sprint and LTE Android phones on AT&T. I am sorry, were you talking about Zimbabwe?
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Have you looked at real world performance diferences between HSPA+ and LTE on towers that have upgraded backhaul? HSPA+ has better download speed, however LTE has better upload speed. In reality, the speed differences between the two are so small, they fall into statistical noise (day to day variations due to tower usage and random obstructions are much bigger factors).

If HSPA+ is just a bit faster and uses much less battery, LTE needs to be scrapped until the next generation. As to the speed of the 4s, how much experience have you had with it? You claim the other phones are faster, however, I doubt you have had any experience.
 
GuitarDTO said:
I think most/all here are intelligent enough to recognize most of the hopeful redesigns had a good chance of not happening. Passion/emotion/hope just masks intelligence sometimes. Nothing wrong with that.
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I think 99% of the time that passion/emotion/hope overtake intelligence you end up being in a world of hurt.
 
lilo777 said:
AT&T is just not going to deploy HSDPA equipment capable of doing anything close to 14.4 Mbps. Right now it's closer to 2Mbps in most states. So backhaul is not an issue. And going forward AT&T is not going to invest in any H+, they will invest in LTE. So iPhone will be stuck with under 1Mbps speeds on Verizon and Sprint and 2Mbps on AT&T (in some cities it's better though).
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Every ATT 3g tower in the United States has already been upgraded to HSPA+. The only thing they are lagging back on is upgrading the backhaul to support the faster radios. Remember, the upgrade from HSPA to HSPA+ is nothing more than slapping in a USB thumbdrive and rebooting the radio. LTE requires a hardware upgrade HSPA+ is nothing more than software.
 
RalfTheDog said:
Have you looked at real world performance diferences between HSPA+ and LTE on towers that have upgraded backhaul? HSPA+ has better download speed, however LTE has better upload speed. In reality, the speed differences between the two are so small, they fall into statistical noise (day to day variations due to tower usage and random obstructions are much bigger factors).

If HSPA+ is just a bit faster and uses much less battery, LTE needs to be scrapped until the next generation. As to the speed of the 4s, how much experience have you had with it? You claim the other phones are faster, however, I doubt you have had any experience.
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Again, AT&T's current H+ infrastructure provides for just 2Mbps download speeds in most cities in U.S. Now that they started deploying LTE, I doubt they are going to invest in improving old infrastructure.
 
Moderator note: I have had to edit more posts in this thread than any other thread with 50-odd posts I can ever remember. Stop calling each other morons. Stop calling each other trolls. Stop telling each other to piss off. Follow the Rules for Appropriate Debate
 
WhoDaKat said:
the ability not to be distracted by shiny objects
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Well said. I admit I do have that problem. 4S is not shiny enough for me.

How do you people put pants on in the morning without help?
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With wishful thinking.

A glass and stainless steel sandwich
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Those are actually the two of the major three problems in the iP4. Glass breaks, and stainless steel antenna is disturbed from touch. Third being that 3.5" is a bit small today, and quite small by next summer.

if you want a giant screen, buy a freaking iPad.
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More like buy any other smartphone in six months. 3.7" is not giant, even 4" should be manageable if done right.

Am I the only one out there that doesn't want to change the form factor?
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No, but there are not a lot of you who are unable to see the point in these wishes. Sure, iP4 still has a great appearance now, but this is the flagship that is supposed to carry on for 12 months. That might be a lot to ask.
 
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lilo777 said:
Again, AT&T's current H+ infrastructure provides for just 2Mbps download speeds in most cities in U.S. Now that they started deploying LTE, I doubt they are going to invest in improving old infrastructure.
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By adding LTE, they are automaticly upgrading to the faster HSPA+. The only difference between the slower and faster HSPA+ is the backhaul. Upgrading to LTE requires the same backhaul upgrade as HSPA+. Every LTE upgraded tower will have HSPA+ bandwidth that will be faster than LTE.

If you can get LTE on an ATT tower, you can get HSPA+ faster. Just to spell it out a bit more clearly, the difference between slow HSPA+ and fast HSPA+ is that the slower towers are fed by copper. The faster towers are fed by fiber. If an LTE tower was fed by copper, it would be no faster than 3g.

----------
robbieduncan said:
Moderator note: I have had to edit more posts in this thread than any other thread with 50-odd posts I can ever remember. Stop calling each other morons. Stop calling each other trolls. Stop telling each other to piss off. Follow the Rules for Appropriate Debate
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What are you, some kind of [expletive deleted] pansy little Windows using mod? You can't deal with people calling each other [expletive deleted], [expletive deleted] or even [expletive deleted]? If you can't deal with the heat, go to a Linux board.

[Joke, please keep up the good work and thanks for all you do!]
 
The 16 month window.

I don't understand why you guys are all still confused about why Apple waited 16 months.

It's simple - in the not to distant future the iPhone will be one of (if not the) only iPod's. They want to release iPod's in the fall based on their corporate release strategy.

They took a look at the iPhone 4 last year and deemed that the hardware was strong enough to support sales for the prolonged period of time, and then set about working on the new phone. I would be surprised if it wasn't done awhile ago, and we are already a number of months into the new one.

This was the plan all along, as was the plan to make an iPhone 4S. With the type of ground-up integrated technology Apple uses their is no realistic way to reinvent the wheel on a 12 month release cycle, thus they are using a tick-tock cycle of major technology/back end upgrades followed by major atheistic/design/front end upgrades. This is a strategy they already employ in a number of areas of their business and one which serves them well.

Don't believe for a second that their plan was to do anything other than what was done.

Karl P
 
lilo777 said:
Given how you use your phone, feature phone would probably be the best option :) If you do not need high data transfer speeds, lack of LTE obviously is not your concern. The only (minor) issue is that without LTE you can't use data and voice simultaneously.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I have the problem with not being able to use voice and data simultaneously with my Verizon Blackberry today and can live with it.

I think I will switch to the 4S - although maybe a month from now, I'm not much for standing in line :)
 
iamkarlp said:
I don't understand why you guys are all still confused about why Apple waited 16 months.

It's simple - in the not to distant future the iPhone will be one of (if not the) only iPod's. They want to release iPod's in the fall based on their corporate release strategy.

They took a look at the iPhone 4 last year and deemed that the hardware was strong enough to support sales for the prolonged period of time, and then set about working on the new phone. I would be surprised if it wasn't done awhile ago, and we are already a number of months into the new one.

This was the plan all along, as was the plan to make an iPhone 4S. With the type of ground-up integrated technology Apple uses their is no realistic way to reinvent the wheel on a 12 month release cycle, thus they are using a tick-tock cycle of major technology/back end upgrades followed by major atheistic/design/front end upgrades. This is a strategy they already employ in a number of areas of their business and one which serves them well.

Don't believe for a second that their plan was to do anything other than what was done.

Karl P
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Don't forget, there could also have been indirect supply chain issues related to Japan.

WhoDaKat said:
I think 99% of the time that passion/emotion/hope overtake intelligence you end up being in a world of hurt.
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Or you spend too much money at the strip bar.
 
Couldn't have said it better myself. :D. People should be happy with the 4S as it's again going to change things for many again. Get over the hardware specs and body redesigns and look at what you can use it for and how you use it.

WhoDaKat said:
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!
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TheSandman2236 said:
I still can't believe they're making 3GS's. They must've made some hefty manufacturing contracts to prolong it like this.
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My girlfriend said something during the keynote that made sense. She said, "wow, free? really? My mom might want that. She wouldn't pay $20, nevermind $200 for a phone, but for free she might jump into Apple."

Her mom has a dumb phone, and is not really interested in a smart phone. Sure, there's data plans to worry about, but some (like her) are already on family plan, and some are curious but just a bit hesitant to make that jump. When the choice comes down to a free Nokia dumb flip phones versus a 3GS, not everyone will do it, but it's a very attractive option.

Tim Cook showed a slide that Apple only has 5% of the world's phone market, smart and dumb phones included. The pie chart would have looked way better with just smart phones included, but he said they look at the bigger picture and potential there.

Connect those two things together and it makes sense. The people who will be getting the 3GS will still have iOS 5, even though they obviously aren't concerned with having the latest and greatest. It won't matter, the sale was made, they'll eventually learn to use it and learn about apps.

Sounds like a solid plan to try and grab a little more of that 95% to me!
 
robbieduncan said:
Moderator note: I have had to edit more posts in this thread than any other thread with 50-odd posts I can ever remember. Stop calling each other morons. Stop calling each other trolls. Stop telling each other to piss off. Follow the Rules for Appropriate Debate
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Thanks moderator!

I don't know why people just can't say "I disagree and here's why ..."

I love this site because I don't know that much about technology and I like to read the various debates and differing opinions.

I also on occasion ask for some guidance about Apple products and the other users are always willing to answer my questions.

There is no need for people to insult each other. If you think someone else is wrong, prove it with facts, not insults.
 
His name is Roofus and he speaks the Troofus

whodakat said:
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!
Click to expand...


amen!
 
iamkarlp said:
I don't understand why you guys are all still confused about why Apple waited 16 months.

It's simple - in the not to distant future the iPhone will be one of (if not the) only iPod's. They want to release iPod's in the fall based on their corporate release strategy.

They took a look at the iPhone 4 last year and deemed that the hardware was strong enough to support sales for the prolonged period of time, and then set about working on the new phone. I would be surprised if it wasn't done awhile ago, and we are already a number of months into the new one.

This was the plan all along, as was the plan to make an iPhone 4S. With the type of ground-up integrated technology Apple uses their is no realistic way to reinvent the wheel on a 12 month release cycle, thus they are using a tick-tock cycle of major technology/back end upgrades followed by major atheistic/design/front end upgrades. This is a strategy they already employ in a number of areas of their business and one which serves them well.

Don't believe for a second that their plan was to do anything other than what was done.

Karl P
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You're right - not to mention that if Apple had come out with an iPhone 5 with all the goodies people wanted - bigger screen, LTE, etc. - all the people who bought iPhone 4's would be really pissed right now.

Poor Apple, they will never win with this group!
 
guzhogi said:
Good thing my contract isn't up for another year or so. But then again, I'll have to wait in line with all the people who think the 4S is awful and are waiting until the next iPhone.
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Same here ... I'm not up until May 1 on my AT&T contract. I don't think the 4S is awful or anything I just don't feel it offers me any compelling reason to upgrade. Nice spec bump but not enough to sell me on another $300 gadget less than a year after my last phone.

If I wait for the next version so I'll be off contract.

Chris
 
tallguy1970 said:
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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then you can use it for 3 months before the end of the world ohh nooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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