Apple rumored to release 'iPhone 4S' with T-Mobile, Sprint support in Sept. - Page 2

1) It has been a requirement so far and they take half the worlds handset profits.

2) Have you ever seen such a small smartphone be a world phone or know that the HW needed extends past the Qualcomm Gobi chipset? There is also an issue of the battery life for a less efficient chipset that Gobi has shown to be. Thats just for starters...

Perhaps I am reading the article incorrectly, but what I get is that this is not a phone upgrade at all, its a phone designed to unify the product line and expand the number of carriers. Period. It's just Apple improving its business model and streamlining the product line with a few quick and easy, modest improvements. The point of the 4S is to sell phones to customers who don't currently have access to the iPhone on their carrier. If you already have a 4, this phone won't really improve on that phone and it is not designed to replace a 4. The whole point is to unify the product line across all carriers (so that the phone you buy at Verizon will be the same phone you buy at Sprint) and expand to all major carriers so that Apple can continue to grow the market.

Apparently they have decided to do this in lieu of a major product refresh. It's not a stupid plan. The bottom line will continue to show growing sales via new carriers, and when the sexy, new 5 comes out, they will be able to simultaneously sell out via all major carriers and encourage upgrades across the board. They are basically creating pent up demand for 5 without impacting their current bottom line.

So if there is a big announcement about 4S, it won't be to encourage an upgrade, it will be to announce the new carriers.

Yes there are.
But you forgot to list them.
Here are some of them:

Android Rules:
1) You must give your personal information to Google.
2) You cannot upgrade the OS on your Android device.
3) You must deal with fragmentation.
4) You must deal with the crapware the carrier puts on your phone.
5) the list goes on and on.... lots of Android rules.

I dunno about this.
I upgraded from the original iPhone to the the 3GS. I'll be upgrading to the 4S (or whatever they call it). Getting a retina display, A5 processor, and more memory are sufficient for me.

As was pointed out, most people (such as myself) are on a 2-year upgrade plan. A lot of us, even though we may have qualified for the iP4 several months ago, are holding out for the next gen iP. I couldn't see upgrading from an iP4 to an iP4S any more than I could see upgrading from a iP3G to an iP3GS, but from a iP3GS to an iP4GS, it makes a *whole* lot of sense.

Right, the 3G to the 3GS was a great upgrade - so much nicer. Actually, for me 3G to 3GS was more noticeable than 3GS to 4. The screen is way better on the 4, but I'm getting far-sighted, so it's a wash.

1_ I'm a little tired of every new product or upgrade there's some story of how Apple wanted to do this or that but due to this or that reason they couldn't do it. I understand things happen out of ones control, but this is ALL the time. Why can't Apple manage these better or plan far enough ahead? Next iPad 3 will have something that was planned but due to something it won't happen and people will need to wait for iPad 4. Every other maker can squeeze in a 4G/LTE or whatever thingamabob why can't Cupertino?

2_ Guess I'm holding onto my 3GS for another year, I refuse to buy another .5 item like the 3GS as much as I like it, but for once I want a fully new product. This "4S" is VERY disappointing to me. Oh well, I guess another 15-16 months of waiting won't kill me (I hope, knock on wood).

BEST COMEBACK EVER!!!

Diappointing compared to what? To each his/her own I guess. For me, going from a 3GS to a 4GS makes perfect sense. Better camera, processor, HSPA+ etc, etc.. There is not many more hardware features that i would want in a pocket phone. LTE IMO is overrated, give me better coverage instead(I'm no power user though). IMO again, apple needs to pick up their game on the software features side of things. But even there, geesh there's only so much that this form factor makes sense to use.

Thank you.


Sprint all ready has it where data roaming is free. I tested that myself back whn I had my BlackBerry. :P If iPhone 4S on Sprint, then the iPhone will finally be on the best network.


It's possible Sprint will be using LTE sometime next year. They all easy hinted at using both WiMAX and LTE.

Im hopeful they and ClearWire can make the transition but I am also doubtful it will be as easy as they have stated.

Doesn't matter to me what is in the next iphone, i'll be upgrading. We have 2x iphone 3g still. We live in an area that didn't have 3g coverage until just 5 months ago, so we contemplated on switching to Verizon. Since the coverage upgrade, I didn't have any reason to switch to Verizon, so we just kept what we got. Now I have upgrade fever, seeing all my coworkers with their iphone 4.

I might just end up upgrading mine now, and then my wife's next year, but take her upgrade, and she can have my hand me down iphone 4s/5.

Hope she ain't reading this...

Heh... he wants a phone that has every available feature at the time with no missing feature that's 6-9 months before it's time So essentially he wants progress in technology to stop, so he can feel like the phone that he buys will not be behind the technology that comes out half a year later. He's dreaming, clearly.

Mother of God, please let this be true!

I'm due for a new phone in July and it looked like I'd be forced to buy some piece of shit iPhone-wannabe Android phone, but if this rumor of an iPhone to Sprint is true, I'll happily wait two more months to get it.

You forgot the big one: You must learn to accept that the Android Marketplace is loaded with viruses and worthless wallpaper apps.

Verizon already has simultaneous voice and data on HTC Thunderbolt.

WiMAX and LTE is pretty much the same technology. However last rumor I heard sprint was considering going to light squared for lte.

I doubt these two, if they are real, would be in July. If only to spread out the chaos a little.

I could see Jobs doing an announcement from campus a week or two after WWDC for the hardware with two dates. One say mid or late July for ATT and Verizon and another say late August for Sprint and Tmobile

It will ship on other gsm carriers in June/July. iPhone 5 in June 2012. Same screen and chasis, upgraded internals. Thats why suppliers have no news/leaks about a bigger screen etc etc.

Well, could not find much on the web as too how, but appears they are using two radios which results in a 3 hour battery life when surfing the web etc. For a low usage person like myself, this might work. But for heavy users... That's why you have to carry spare batteries.

Trust in apple

ps
I love your sig

9

Yes, memories are short and perceptions are shallow in the Internet age. The 3G to 3GS was, despite the fact that the form factor remained stable, a pretty significant upgrade to the iPhone.

This doesn't make a lot of sense. When the Verizon iPhone was release, there were good sales, but not tremendous, because there is pent up demand for the next model, and a lot of people didn't want to buy something that potentially would be outdated in a few months. So if Apple is just doing a very minor update, but adding more carriers, those buyers would be buying something that they'd be locked into for 2 years, while the next major iPhone update would be less than a year away. I'd guess that there will be more than just some minor updates, but I'm often surprised, and occasionally disappointed by Apple's iPhone model upgrade announcements.

iphone 4s=5

the iphone 4 was named such as the 4th gen, not because of tech like the two previous models. So the next one is the iphone 5.

Also, Apple's fiscal year starts in October, not Sept. Anyone that listens to their earnings reports would know this. So was it the 'source' that said September is the start of the year or AI claiming that. Cause to me, getting that detail wrong reflects on the speaker and his/her validity.

But in regards to the name do you think they will call it iPhone 5?

If they are bringing to market an HSPA+ iPhone, which both AT&T and T-Mobile refer to as their 4th generation network I can see them wanting to call it iPhone 4G. However, their desire to keep the models as identical as possible to the user could make them hold off on that until LTE is ready for inclusion. If that inclusion is slated to arrive next year then I can see the A5 chip and double the NAND being added this year for the iPhone 4[s] with next year’s model being iPhone 4G or iPhone 4GS.

Someone should tell them the parable of the difference between the janitor and the executive ...

Yes! T-Mob support means 1700/AWS support.

I hope this rumor is true.
I would be able to buy the next iPhone unlocked from Apple and use it on the new AWS carriers up here in Canada. I currently get unlimited everything for $40 from Wind Mobile, but I don't like my Nexus One.

You know what I mean. I'm asking: Is the iPhone 4S their "Plan A" or "Plan B" for 2011 refresh?

Why do you think anyone here would know that?

I don't think Apple deals in Plans B.

Can anyone really imagine Steve Jobs saying, "Well, OK, maybe it's just to hard to make a great new iPhone, so why don't you guys just take it easy and go with Plan B."

I went back from iPhone ATT to Sprint EVO 4G due to a terrible ATT reception and slow data.

The EVO 4g rocks: much lager screen, full-screen mode browser and fast data (8mbps) - make it much more usable: it is almost like mini-tablet, but still very pocketable, easy to type, and one-hand operable.

I like the iPhone OS and hardware, but in order to switch to potential Sprint iPhone, here is my wish list for a new iPhone in order of importance:

1. Screen aprox. 4.5"
2. 4G data
3. World phone

Apple rarely discusses planned features before a product release. What you're talking about are internet rumors of what Apple might do. It's a little unreasonable to take Apple to task for failing to live up to random speculation.

Assuming there is an "iPhone 4S" that is primarily about extending carrier compatibility, why would that release be delayed until September? It doesn't seem like much of a technical challenge, so there would have to be another reason for changing up the release schedule.

Given how consistent Apple has been with that release schedule, you would think it would have to be a very good reason, but I'm not seeing it.

1) Maybe they want a 6 month difference between the iPad and iPhone since those are their 2 biggest sellers.

2) Along with #1, with the iPod sales dropping and being less important, and iPod Touch being mostly an iPhone maybe theyve decided to role them into one release.

3) Maybe there is an issue with sourcing components or manufacturing that would keep this release postponed.

4) Maybe The release of Lion is making iOS the a back seat the way Mac OS has taken a back seat to iOS. Or, there is a need to focus on Lion and get it out in the wild before releasing new iOS 5.0 features.

5) Maybe they felt that including 4G wouldnt feasible happen for at least 2.5 years after the iPhone 4 was released so they decided to add 3 months time to the next two models to help spread the difference.

6) New high-density battery tech wont be ready until the end of the Summer.

The most plausible of those are the ones that involve Apple moving the release schedule to be more compatible with other product lines (and as a response to dwindling iPod sales).

Component sourcing seems like a stretch, since (according to the rumor at hand) we're just talking about T-Mobile and Sprint compatible radios, which surely are not in short supply.

I suppose iOS 5 development efforts could be behind schedule, and Apple wants to make that the centerpiece of a modestly improved handset. But presumably you'll be able to upgrade the iPhone 4 anyway, so waiting to ship a 4S until it can come with iOS 5 preinstalled is not that much of a differentiator (although I guess Apple might want to make sure a very slightly improved phone had something to make it seem new, even if that something was available to the "old" handset).

Battery tech? It's possible but doesn't seem that likely.

The scheduling thing seems like the best bet-- some combination of having a strong product to release in the fall, extending the time since the Verizon release and shortening the time till LTE.

And I'd rate waiting for iOS 5 a close second.

The Sprint iPhone needs the baseband flashed and the AT&T iPhone needs to have the 1700MHz radio added to the current broadband chip, and perhaps an antenna change. Both seems pretty simple to me.


I didn’t want to get to detailed with my previous post but I was thinking of an RFID or some such HW that would automate your connections between your Macs and iDevices to further integrate your ecosystem.

For example, If you are at your desk and logged in your iPhone would no long continue to push emails to the device. That would be shut off because it’s not needed. Also, apps with push notifications could have the option to turn off PSN whilst you’re using your Mac. For instance, using Words with Friends on your Mac means your phone doesn’t need to get a push notification that it’s your turn.

Those are some superficial examples of how Apple’s control of the HW, OS, SW and ecosystem could benefit the user. A more complex example might be switching a FaceTime call from your iPhone to your AppleTV’s display (once it’s updated and we have TV that use that capability) or your Mac.


PS: If they really are going to alter the size of the display they will need an updated SDK and it will take time for devs to submit to the App Store. If this happens at WWDC that time frame between the June announcement and September launch with a new iPhone HW would make since.


PPS: They really need to have multiple WWDCs at the same time or get a much bigger venue. If they had a couple in the US, one in Europe, and one in China or Japan I think they’d sell out easily.

You forgot another one: the build quality of HTC and Motorola stink (maybe Samsung is better). Seriously, my friend had both the Nexus One, and then the G2 (which she upgraded when T-Mobile gave all its smart phones away for free on Valentine's Day). HTC made both phones, and they are made out of cheap flimsy plastics. Motorola phones not only are made of cheap materials, but they aren't designed well either. Before the iPhone, I have owned three Motorola phones. All have died before the end of the contract. Usually it is because of the poorly designed power cords that eventually cause the casing to crack and stop working. My step brother has a Motorola Droid and it suffers the same issues.

The bad battery life stems from the 4G radio. Using two radios doesn't NEC mean bad battery life.



welcome to the life of technology.


It could be Apple wants all iPhones to b released on all carriers at similar days. Or it could be iOS 5.0 being delayed. More likely is Foxxconn who makes the iPhone and is based in Japan (not sure about this, but I know many of iPhone parts come from Japan) is in part for th delay.

What are the odds that this data center, their voice recognition, and/or their mapping software is the primary reason this is getting held back until September?*


* I know it’s not confirmed but I’m saying there is enough circumstantial evidence to say that it probably is September.

It could be a plan B scenario. Apple planed to do something different and more aggressive, however, something went wrong. It had to shuffle to implement plan B. Also I suspect quite a bit goes into making the phone compatible with all networks. it could be something needed to be able to come up with one phone for all networks wasn't available until a certain time.

Also, think back when Apple was coming up with the major update for iOS to release version 4. The same team works on the Mac OS as well, so what eventually became Snow Leopard got pushed back. The team has been busy on Lion, in September Lion will be in the Wild and the team will have had a few months to go back to working exclusively on iOS.

I suspect the delay is software related.

Apple might not be working on Plan B, but there always is a Plan B. Can you imagine telling Jobs that a major component supplier can't deliver expected necessary components until six months after a product's planed launch? Apple isn't going to delay a product for half a year. You have to have a back up plan. That is just smart.