Verizon CDMA iPhone currently undergoing testing - rumor

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
A new rumor suggests Apple is testing a CDMA iPhone, code-named N92, that would work on the Verizon network.



Jon Gruber of Daring Fireball said Wednesday that "a few little birdies" told him that a CDMA variant of the iPhone is just two steps away from production. According to the report, the device is in the EVT (engineering verification test) phase, one step below DVT (device verification test).



DVT status, which takes place right before production, is best known as the status of the iPhone 4 test unit that was "lost" in a bar by an Apple engineer in April.



In addition to Gruber's unidentified sources, the report cites several suppliers that have added to recent rumors of a CDMA iPhone. One rumor claimed Qualcomm is set to manufacture millions of CDMA chips for a Verizon iPhone in December. Another report points to Pegatron as a supplier for the CDMA iPhone.



While a CDMA iPhone could work on a number of networks, Verizon, which is the largest wireless provider in the U.S., seems the most likely candidate. A June report by Bloomberg mentioned January 2011 as the target for a Verizon-compatible iPhone launch. According to Gruber, a product currently in EVT would be on track for a January 2011 release.



On Monday, AT&T warned that some of its smartphone exclusivity agreements will soon expire. The news, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, set off a fresh round of speculation about the expansion of the iPhone to other U.S. carriers. Steven Fox, an analyst with CLSA, cites the new exclusivity references as evidence that Apple could add Verizon as a U.S. carrier by early 2011.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 62
    shadashshadash Posts: 470member
    This cannot come soon enough. I'm going to be hitting the bars around Cupertino! Just to "borrow" it, not take it permanently. I'll use my roommates computer so they can't trace it back to me.
  • Reply 2 of 62
    "Jon Gruber of Daring Fireball"



    Why is this guy always quoted? I looked him up.....



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber



    and what has he done to get quoted so much? He has barely done anything in the world of IT/Tech besides his blog that is nothing but a daily rant on stuff he likes.



    I mean I could sit around and make predictions about when the next iMac, iPhone, iLife is going to come out and be right 50% of the time which is probably better than him.
  • Reply 3 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bettieblue View Post


    "Jon Gruber of Daring Fireball"



    Why is this guy always quoted? I looked him up.....



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber



    and what has he done to get quoted so much? He has barely done anything in the world of IT/Tech besides his blog that is nothing but a daily rant on stuff he likes.



    I mean I could sit around and make predictions about when the next iMac, iPhone, iLife is going to come out and be right 50% of the time which is probably better than him.



    No, he tends to be right a lot. Much more than the idiot "analysts" that get quoted, and more than 50%. And I don't think random guessing would net you a 50% rate, probably closer to 10 or 15.



    Gordon
  • Reply 4 of 62
    shadashshadash Posts: 470member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bettieblue View Post


    "Jon Gruber of Daring Fireball"



    Why is this guy always quoted? I looked him up.....



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber



    and what has he done to get quoted so much? He has barely done anything in the world of IT/Tech besides his blog that is nothing but a daily rant on stuff he likes.



    I mean I could sit around and make predictions about when the next iMac, iPhone, iLife is going to come out and be right 50% of the time which is probably better than him.



    Read his site: daringfireball.net. It is always interesting.
  • Reply 5 of 62
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    As much as has been speculated here about how angered SJ was by Verizon's initial iPhone rejection, I can only imagine what they must have had to agree to for Steve to exact his revenge. I am, however, hopeful that this will happen, at least to prove that SJ is not cutting off his nose to spite his face and is now thinking like a CEO in charge of maximizing profit for the shareholders instead of the usual egomaniacal ranting we usually get from him.



    Not that the stock hasn't done well, it is just that a Verizon phone will be huge, except that it reportedly can't do data and voice simultaneously. I'm sticking with AT&T anyway.
  • Reply 6 of 62
    cameronjcameronj Posts: 2,357member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    Not that the stock hasn't done well, it is just that a Verizon phone will be huge, except that it reportedly can't do data and voice simultaneously. I'm sticking with AT&T anyway.



    That's the only show stopper. If it can't do voice and data, people are going to feel real stupid mocking ATT for so long only to buy what's basically an Edge iPhone.
  • Reply 7 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    That's the only show stopper. If it can't do voice and data, people are going to feel real stupid mocking ATT for so long only to buy what's basically an Edge iPhone.



    For current Verizon customers it won't matter because you don't miss what you never had.



    This would also be huge for Verizon because they would now have the iPhone along with the two most popular Android phones.
  • Reply 8 of 62
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    It wouldn't be a day ending in y if this rumor wasn't posted here.
  • Reply 9 of 62
    str1f3str1f3 Posts: 573member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bettieblue View Post


    "Jon Gruber of Daring Fireball"



    Why is this guy always quoted? I looked him up.....



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber



    and what has he done to get quoted so much? He has barely done anything in the world of IT/Tech besides his blog that is nothing but a daily rant on stuff he likes.



    I mean I could sit around and make predictions about when the next iMac, iPhone, iLife is going to come out and be right 50% of the time which is probably better than him.



    The only problem is that Gruber's right 90% of the time. He basically gave the talking points and the name of the 3GS before it came out. If you, like Gruber, can "predict" a Mac Mini server model than you should start your own blog and get paid for advertising because that's one hell of a guess.



    The only sites I listen to for rumors are AI (when it's their story and not quoting an analyst) & Daring Fireball.



    If Gruber says a Verizon iPhone is coming it's most likely true.
  • Reply 10 of 62
    shadashshadash Posts: 470member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    That's the only show stopper. If it can't do voice and data, people are going to feel real stupid mocking ATT for so long only to buy what's basically an Edge iPhone.



    How is Verizon 3G like an Edge phone? I can count on 1 hand the times I have wanted to use voice and data simultaneously.
  • Reply 11 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shadash View Post


    How is Verizon 3G like an Edge phone? I can count on 1 hand the times I have wanted to use voice and data simultaneously.



    Good for you, I do it daily, so looks like we balance each other out.
  • Reply 12 of 62
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shadash View Post


    How is Verizon 3G like an Edge phone? I can count on 1 hand the times I have wanted to use voice and data simultaneously.



    Let me check. Yep AAPL just hit 375! Hellooooo.... Are you still there? I guess Verizon has dropped calls after all. Oh... did I do that?
  • Reply 13 of 62
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shadash View Post


    How is Verizon 3G like an Edge phone?




    Because like Edge you can't do voice and data at the same time



    Quote:

    I can count on 1 hand the times I have wanted to use voice and data simultaneously.



    That is rather the more important point. Long time Verizon users are used to not having this feature so it would be the status quo for them. No big deal.



    That said. who knows how long this testing will last or even for certain if it is for Verizon at this point. They could be working on this for somewhere outside of the US at this point. Or their testing could show that a CDMA iphone lacks the level of quality that Jobs demands and nix the whole thing. Or perhaps they are testing CDMA in the hopes of creating a phone that can handle the up and coming LTE, with both GSM and CDMA fallbacks. Which will be released as iphone 6 when the contract is up in 2012





    Gruber is good, but he's not perfect. Assuming this is for a near release and/or Verizon could be a 10% time
  • Reply 14 of 62
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shadash View Post


    How is Verizon 3G like an Edge phone? I can count on 1 hand the times I have wanted to use voice and data simultaneously.



    Yikes, I do it quite a bit. Headset on, keep on the con-call while checking email, browsing, hitting google maps. I think it's most annoying when I had the iPhone gen1 (Edge) and I was doing browsing, downloading, doing data stuff, how often I'd have voicemail waiting for me since the phone couldn't receive calls while I was data'ing.



    -Chris
  • Reply 15 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bettieblue View Post


    I mean I could sit around and make predictions about when the next iMac, iPhone, iLife is going to come out and be right 50% of the time which is probably better than him.



    No actually, you couldn't.
  • Reply 16 of 62
    str1f3str1f3 Posts: 573member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by charlituna View Post


    That said. who knows how long this testing will last or even for certain if it is for Verizon at this point. They could be working on this for somewhere outside of the US at this point. Or their testing could show that a CDMA iphone lacks the level of quality that Jobs demands and nix the whole thing. Or perhaps they are testing CDMA in the hopes of creating a phone that can handle the up and coming LTE, with both GSM and CDMA fallbacks. Which will be released as iphone 6 when the contract is up in 2012





    Gruber is good, but he's not perfect. Assuming this is for a near release and/or Verizon could be a 10% time



    There is too much detail in his post to make it seem like he's wrong. Besides, can you tell me when the last time he's been wrong on an upcoming product? I'm guessing not in a couple of years.



    It's quite possible it could be coming to everywhere but Verizon but literally all the rumors that have come out in the past few months have said this is pretty much a done deal with Verizon from the WSJ, Business Week & TechCrunch. If Gruber's post is right then this device is two steps away from hitting production which hits the timeline of all these rumors saying production would start later this year.



    I have an iPhone 4 and I hope to see a Verizon version. The last thing I want to see is Android having Windows market share. It's bad enough to see Google selling out net neutrality and it would be a nightmare if they controlled the mobile industry.
  • Reply 17 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cameronj View Post


    That's the only show stopper. If it can't do voice and data, people are going to feel real stupid mocking ATT for so long only to buy what's basically an Edge iPhone.



    It's called SVDO, I'm pretty sure VZW is implementing it. Needs new CDMA chips in the handsets...which the iphone will have cause Steve Jobs will want it.
  • Reply 18 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by bettieblue View Post


    "Jon Gruber of Daring Fireball"



    Why is this guy always quoted? I looked him up.....



    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gruber



    and what has he done to get quoted so much? He has barely done anything in the world of IT/Tech besides his blog that is nothing but a daily rant on stuff he likes.



    I mean I could sit around and make predictions about when the next iMac, iPhone, iLife is going to come out and be right 50% of the time which is probably better than him.



    Then, do it.



    And, come back and tell us in a few months how that panned out.



    Otherwise, stop criticizing.
  • Reply 19 of 62
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ChristophB View Post


    It wouldn't be a day ending in y if this rumor wasn't posted here.



    Mercredi.
  • Reply 20 of 62
    christophbchristophb Posts: 1,482member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Mercredi.



    Doh! Those pesky other languages.
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