Apple 'expected' to release LTE 4G iPhone in 2012

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Competition among 4G-capable long-term evolution smartphones is predicted to intensify in 2012, when industry insiders believe Apple will join the fray with its own LTE iPhone model.



In the U.S., most of the current 4G share of smartphones is held by HTC, while other major vendors including Samsung, Motorola and LG all sell LTE-enabled models. But a market shift is anticipated for 2012, when Apple is "expected to join the LTE club," according to sources who spoke with DigiTimes.



Apple's entrance into the 4G LTE smartphone market is expected to come as Nokia, Research in Motion and Sony Ericsson also release their own next-generation high-speed handsets next year. The debut of those smartphones will come as carriers around the world launch their own LTE networks.



Just 35 LTE networks are on-line globally at the moment, but that number is expected to triple and exceed 100 before the end of 2012. By 2015, LTE networks are expected to reach 290 million people, and sales of LTE smartphones are projected to top 154 million units.



In the U.S., competition for 4G networks is expected to pick up next year, when Sprint launches its own LTE services in the middle of the year. The third-largest carrier in America, which began offering the iPhone earlier this month, reportedly expects to launch 15 LTE-enabled devices in mid-2012.



Earlier this year, reports claimed that Apple had eyed building an LTE-capable iPhone in 2011, but opted to push back the launch of such a device in 2012. It was said that the implementation of LTE networks had not yet matured enough to satisfy Apple.



In a quarterly conference call earlier this year, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, then the company's chief operating officer, said that poor battery life and other issues with current LTE technology were enough to dissuade the company from pursuing an LTE iPhone at the time.







"The first generation of LTE chipsets force a lot of design compromises with the handset, and some of those we are just not willing to make," Cook said.



The just-released iPhone 4S features an improved antenna that it HSDPA compatible for theoretical download speeds of up to 14.4Mbps. That has led U.S. carrier AT&T to advertise that the iPhone 4S has 4G-like speeds on its GSM network. However, the world-mode phone is not capable of achieving those same speeds on CDMA networks with carriers like Sprint and Verizon.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 82
    saareksaarek Posts: 1,576member
    Assume these are the same analysts and bloggers that told everyone to expect these features in this years model too......



    Apple will release it when they are good and ready, they will not sacrifice battery life or design for a feature that even by next year will not have anywhere near full implementation from carriers.



    Heck, sometimes it's hard to find a decent 3G signal in many parts of the UK, let alone 4G!
  • Reply 2 of 82
    I think we're rounding the corner in terms of these 'compromises' that Cook mentioned. The upcoming Droid Razr is only 7.1mm and has LTE. If Motorola can do it, no reason Apple can't, especially 8 months or so from now.
  • Reply 3 of 82
    Wow, no sh*t.
  • Reply 4 of 82
    conradjoeconradjoe Posts: 1,887member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Competition among 4G-capable long-term evolution smartphones is predicted to intensify in 2012, when industry insiders believe Apple will join the fray with its own LTE iPhone model.






    Duh.
  • Reply 6 of 82
    Frankly, until there is some compelling reason to have even faster web access, I'm just not convinced I need to pay extra to the phone companies for LTE speed. I get emails fast enough - and I'm only using the browser or web accessed apps at times when I'm moving between home and destination.



    I'm all for faster speeds, but I'd rather have greater connectivity, or more consistent connectivity, first.
  • Reply 7 of 82
    What will it be called. We already have the 5th generation iPhone (4S), so it can't be called the iPhone 5. Can it be called iPhone 4G or is that too many 4's (iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4G). How about iPhone 6....?
  • Reply 8 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jmgregory1 View Post


    Frankly, until there is some compelling reason to have even faster web access, I'm just not convinced I need to pay extra to the phone companies for LTE speed.



    You don't pay Verizon extra. You pay Sprint and who knows/cares about AT&T, but you don't pay Verizon extra.
  • Reply 9 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by foxhunter101 View Post


    What will it be called. We already have the 5th generation iPhone (4S), so it can't be called the iPhone 5. Can it be called iPhone 4G or is that too many 4's (iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4G). How about iPhone 6....?



    Full renumbering comes alongside an external redesign or telephony change.



    So the 3G wasn't the 2 to highlight the 3G telephony.



    The 3GS wasn't the 3 because it was still 3G and retained the same case.



    The 4 was the four, returning the name-generation sync, because of the new enclosure.



    The 4S wasn't the 5 because it was still 3G and retained the same case.



    The next one should be the 6 because it should have a new enclosure.



    "But what about LTE?"



    Yep, I believe the next model will absolutely have LTE.



    "So why wouldn't it be the iPhone LTE or iPhone 4G?"



    I have a reason for each.



    To the first, it sounds a little silly and out of place. As proof of Apple not naming iPhones after a specific branch of a level of telephony, you didn't see the iPhone 3G get called the iPhone HSDPA, did you? Or the 3GS called the iPhone HSDPA+?



    To the second, I was fully behind the possibility of either the iPhone 6 or iPhone 4G name at first. I assumed Apple would want to milk the number "4" for as long as possible.



    But then I watched the video stream of the iPhone 4S keynote. And Phil Schiller himself said that Apple doesn't want to get mixed up in the whole naming convention game. He said that Apple is going to leave it to the telecoms and regulatory bodies to decide what 4G is and isn't.



    So with the definition of 4G being far more ambiguous than 3G ever was, I don't see Apple calling the 6th iPhone "iPhone 4G".



    Which leaves iPhone 6 as the only logical, viable name, unless they perfect holography or switch to a flexible screen. In which case, it'd be the iPhone H or iPhone F (hey, look, the sixth letter), respectively. But that's just a flight of fancy.
  • Reply 10 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Full renumbering comes alongside an external redesign or telephony change.



    The next one should be the 6 because it should have a new enclosure.



    "But what about LTE?"



    Yep, I believe the next model will absolutely have LTE.



    "So why wouldn't it be the iPhone LTE or iPhone 4G?"



    I have a reason for each.



    To the first, it sounds a little silly and out of place. As proof of Apple not naming iPhones after a specific branch of a level of telephony, you didn't see the iPhone 3G get called the iPhone HSDPA, did you? Or the 3GS called the iPhone HSDPA+?



    To the second, I was fully behind the possibility of either the iPhone 6 or iPhone 4G name at first. I assumed Apple would want to milk the number "4" for as long as possible.



    But then I watched the video stream of the iPhone 4S keynote. And Phil Schiller himself said that Apple doesn't want to get mixed up in the whole naming convention game. He said that Apple is going to leave it to the telecoms and regulatory bodies to decide what 4G is and isn't.



    So with the definition of 4G being far more ambiguous than 3G ever was, I don't see Apple calling the 6th iPhone "iPhone 4G".



    Which leaves iPhone 6 as the only logical, viable name, unless they perfect holography or switch to a flexible screen. In which case, it'd be the iPhone H or iPhone F (hey, look, the sixth letter), respectively. But that's just a flight of fancy.



    It won't be the iPhone LTE... it sounds too much like iPhone Lite.



    ... and, because so many people on here have written off iPhone 5 then that is probably what it will be.
  • Reply 11 of 82
    ivladivlad Posts: 742member
    The thing is people don't care about 3G, 4G, 5G etc. People on forums like these do, because we all know what it means, but an ordinary person is happy with current phones. It's only the tech-savvy push for such changes and then people agree even though they have no idea what 4G or any other term means.
  • Reply 12 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post


    I think we're rounding the corner in terms of these 'compromises' that Cook mentioned. The upcoming Droid Razr is only 7.1mm and has LTE. If Motorola can do it, no reason Apple can't, especially 8 months or so from now.



    The article dagamer54 references explains it. The Droid won't sell half as much as the iPhone, so they don't need as much of a supply of some of the components as Apple does.



    8 months from now hopefully things will be different.
  • Reply 13 of 82
    I'll have to throw my hat into the "doesn't matter to me" camp, since it will be years before I ever see LTE at my house, and I work out of my home. Heck, we just got 3G from AT&T earlier this year, and HSPA+ in June! I love my 4S, so I cannot see the benefit to an LTE phone any time soon. I'll wait for the 5S or 6S, whatever it might be called.
  • Reply 14 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iVlad View Post


    The thing is people don't care about 3G, 4G, 5G etc. People on forums like these do, because we all know what it means, but an ordinary person is happy with current phones. It's only the tech-savvy push for such changes and then people agree even though they have no idea what 4G or any other term means.



    Sales people like terms such as 4G... as in:



    "Oh, this phone is much better than the other one... it has 4G."



    "What's 4G?"



    "It makes your phone go faster."



    "What about an iPhone?"



    "Oh, Apple is way behind. They don't offer 4g. [...and I won't mention Apple doesn't hand out any spiffs]."
  • Reply 15 of 82
    ssls6ssls6 Posts: 49member
    With a 2GB cap, LTE can use up all your BW in 6-20 mins depending on speed. The ATT scheme currently in the 4S can be out in 11-30 mins. Capacity not speed is holding the networks back.
  • Reply 16 of 82
    tundraboytundraboy Posts: 1,911member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iVlad View Post


    The thing is people don't care about 3G, 4G, 5G etc. People on forums like these do, because we all know what it means, but an ordinary person is happy with current phones. It's only the tech-savvy push for such changes and then people agree even though they have no idea what 4G or any other term means.



    True, but people do understand "faster". And for some it will matter (maybe not now but as soon as they see their friends' LTE phones in action) and for others it won't. The former group probably is big enough that the smart phone industry players cannot afford to ignore them.
  • Reply 17 of 82
    ojalaojala Posts: 18member
    Check http://4g-patrullen.se/ what LTE speeds should be.
  • Reply 18 of 82
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Eventually a pie-eyed dream will become a reality in technology. I think 2012 is the year LTE and HSPA+ will enter the iPhone making it '4G' across the board for carriers. Same case design will mean iPhone 4G and a different case design will mean iPhone 6 or something entire entirely, but not iPhone 5.
  • Reply 19 of 82
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by thataveragejoe View Post


    I think we're rounding the corner in terms of these 'compromises' that Cook mentioned. The upcoming Droid Razr is only 7.1mm and has LTE. If Motorola can do it, no reason Apple can't, especially 8 months or so from now.





    Try just under 12 months (10/2012) from now.
  • Reply 20 of 82
    Saying "expected to" is basically worse than a rumor, because now you (AppleInsider) are making promises that Apple has to keep.
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