More LTE iPhone Evidence: Apple Seeking Engineers For LTE Field Tests

They've pushed the release of the next iPhone back and now there is hard evidence that the Apple stores have upgraded to LTE so I'm really starting to think LTE will be in the next iPhone.

I was dead set against it before because of the power drain the chips cause. Maybe they're better now?
 
The case for iPhone 5 having LTE

I think there is one thing that all of us have overlooked as the reason why the iPhone 5 might have LTE. If the iPhone 5 only supported HSPA+ and not LTE, then AT&T could make the HUGE marketing claim that they have the nations ONLY 4G iPhone!! That would be a tremendous marketing blow to Verizon because you know how the masses are, they hear that and they are automatically going to go with what they perceive as better, the AT&T "4G" iPhone.

There is no way in hell that Verizon execs would let that happen. I would put money on it that they brought that issue up to Apple. The only way around that is to put LTE inside the iPhone 5.

Add to that reasoning the fact that the iPhone is launching so much later than the usual 1 year interval, AT&T and Verizon putting LTE antennas in Apple stores, the LTE plist carrier files, and the recent Apple LTE field test jobs, I think there is probably a better than 50% chance the iPhone 5 will have LTE.
 
JoJoCal19 said:
I think there is probably a better than 50% chance the iPhone 5 will have LTE.
Click to expand...

I don't know. I still cannot see Apple moving towards this when a LTE iPhone would last about two and a half hours. Current LTE technology is a battery hog. I would much rather prefer an all-day 3G iPhone.
 
You need to check the leaked Bionic battery stats. They are very respectable. Also, the Bionic is a lot smaller than other current LTE phones. If Motorola can figure out how to make a smaller phone with better battery life that supports LTE. Don't ya think apple can do it?
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

I'll believe the bionic crap when it actually gets released.
 
Kyotoma said:
I don't know. I still cannot see Apple moving towards this when a LTE iPhone would last about two and a half hours. Current LTE technology is a battery hog. I would much rather prefer an all-day 3G iPhone.
Click to expand...

To be fair yes the Thunderbolt lasted 4 hours of straight 4G use when it was launched but it's better after the last update. I have heard other LTE phones weren't as bad. Also HTC used such a weak battery for a LTE big screened phone.

Another reason I believe Apple would move to LTE with the iPhone 5 is that for people who buy this phone, I would guess a majority are going to keep it for 2 years while they are on contract. With the number of LTE phones out or coming out, I would not want to have another 3G iPhone for 2 more years. Also with Apple releasing this iPhone this late in the year I don't see them moving back to a June launch next year. So that would mean there would probably not be an LTE iPhone until Fall 2012. Meanwhile all the other manufacturers are coming out with LTE phones and using that marketing advantage.
 
Genuine question - not trying to flame any comments - but how many networks in the world actually have LTE/4G capability? In UK, they(networks)'ve only just started bidding for 4G frequencies let alone actually got the infrastructure in place. Having a LTE iPhone will be pointless here for most people.

I'm not sure how big 4G coverage is around the rest of the world, but I suspect we won't see it in iPhones until next year.

Having said that, I hope it is in iP5 just to future-proof the phone!

Btw, sorry for switching between 4G / LTE - I am a n00b in not knowing the difference...
 
JoJoCal19 said:
I think there is one thing that all of us have overlooked as the reason why the iPhone 5 might have LTE. If the iPhone 5 only supported HSPA+ and not LTE, then AT&T could make the HUGE marketing claim that they have the nations ONLY 4G iPhone!! That would be a tremendous marketing blow to Verizon because you know how the masses are, they hear that and they are automatically going to go with what they perceive as better, the AT&T "4G" iPhone.

There is no way in hell that Verizon execs would let that happen. I would put money on it that they brought that issue up to Apple. The only way around that is to put LTE inside the iPhone 5.

Add to that reasoning the fact that the iPhone is launching so much later than the usual 1 year interval, AT&T and Verizon putting LTE antennas in Apple stores, the LTE plist carrier files, and the recent Apple LTE field test jobs, I think there is probably a better than 50% chance the iPhone 5 will have LTE.
Click to expand...
I highly doubt Verizon has any influence in what Apple releases. The Verizon iPhone accounts for a few % of global iPhone sales. GSM and HSPA+ are used in other parts of the world and not just the US so why would Apple exclude that technology if it is ready for the masses just because LTE is not ready yet? Makes no sense what so ever.
 
I think its likely that the next iPad *may* be LTE capable--that's realistic. That could explain the LTE equipment being installed in Apple stores. An LTE iPhone 5 is highly unlikely IMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top