Analyst: Apple saving 'iPhone 5' name for 4G LTE version in 2012
Apple's newly-announced iPhone 4S is an incremental stopgap while the company prepares a phone branded as the "iPhone 5" with 4G Long-Term Evolution data speeds for next spring, one analyst claims.
Analyst Will Strauss, president of wireless chip market research firm Forward Concepts, explained to CNet his belief on why Apple showed off an iPhone 4S and not the rumored "iPhone 5" on Tuesday. The new device features the A5 processor, an improved camera, a redesigned antenna and an integrated voice recognition feature called Siri.
"They're saving iPhone 5 for the LTE version and that won't be out until next spring," he said. Strauss tracks companies such as Qualcomm that provide the chips for 3G and 4G mobile technologies. However, given that the report does not indicate the source of his information, Strauss' prediction should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism.
"There's no way they could come out with LTE now," he continued, noting that the LTE-capable Thunderbolt smartphone from rival HTC requires a two chip solution: an LTE baseband chip and a second one from Qualcomm for 3G voice connections.
Strauss' comments do align with earlier reports that Apple would release an iPhone 4S as an "interim upgrade" in preparation for an LTE device in 2012.
Meanwhile, Anand Shimpi of AnandTech reports that the MDM9615, a chip capable of LTE voice and data that would fit Apple's iPhone specifications, should arrive early next year, with the first smartphones powered by it likely to arrive in the second quarter of 2012. He believes the MDM9615 could solve some of the battery life issues that device makers are seeing.
Shimpi went on to suggest that stumbling blocks in the transition to 28nm chips have caught a number of handset makers off guard. "I suspect that an aggressive 28nm roadmap that didn't pan out probably caught a lot of SoC and smartphone vendors in a position where they couldn't ship what they wanted to in 2011," he wrote.
"While I don't like participating in the rumor garbage, if I were to guess at the release date of the rumored iPhone 5 I'd say early Q3 2012," he added.
Though Apple has shown interest in LTE, even going so far as to purchase a batch of patents related to the technology, the company had said it wasn't willing to make the necessary sacrifices to include it in this year's iPhone.
"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," Apple executive Tim Cook said earlier this year.
Initial response to the iPhone 4S has been mixed. Though some have expressed excitement about the new Siri voice activation functionality, others criticized the device as being too incremental to justify the 16-month period between iPhone releases.
According to Penn Olson, the reactions of Chinese netizens on the Weibo micro-blogging service have been overwhelmingly negative. A backlash from Chinese customers could prove costly to Apple, which has said that its iPhone focus has been on China.
??If we can?t show off with it, what?s the point of buying one?? The iPhone 4S?s design has no major difference from the iPhone 4, is this a major reason why the 4S won?t be welcomed in China? Vain people don?t care about features, they care about how it looks,? the translation of one post read.
For its part, Wall Street has remained relatively optimistic about the device. Some analysts believe Apple will continue its impressive growth on the strength of an accelerated international rollout and new carrier partners.
Analyst Will Strauss, president of wireless chip market research firm Forward Concepts, explained to CNet his belief on why Apple showed off an iPhone 4S and not the rumored "iPhone 5" on Tuesday. The new device features the A5 processor, an improved camera, a redesigned antenna and an integrated voice recognition feature called Siri.
"They're saving iPhone 5 for the LTE version and that won't be out until next spring," he said. Strauss tracks companies such as Qualcomm that provide the chips for 3G and 4G mobile technologies. However, given that the report does not indicate the source of his information, Strauss' prediction should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism.
"There's no way they could come out with LTE now," he continued, noting that the LTE-capable Thunderbolt smartphone from rival HTC requires a two chip solution: an LTE baseband chip and a second one from Qualcomm for 3G voice connections.
Strauss' comments do align with earlier reports that Apple would release an iPhone 4S as an "interim upgrade" in preparation for an LTE device in 2012.
Meanwhile, Anand Shimpi of AnandTech reports that the MDM9615, a chip capable of LTE voice and data that would fit Apple's iPhone specifications, should arrive early next year, with the first smartphones powered by it likely to arrive in the second quarter of 2012. He believes the MDM9615 could solve some of the battery life issues that device makers are seeing.
Shimpi went on to suggest that stumbling blocks in the transition to 28nm chips have caught a number of handset makers off guard. "I suspect that an aggressive 28nm roadmap that didn't pan out probably caught a lot of SoC and smartphone vendors in a position where they couldn't ship what they wanted to in 2011," he wrote.
"While I don't like participating in the rumor garbage, if I were to guess at the release date of the rumored iPhone 5 I'd say early Q3 2012," he added.
Though Apple has shown interest in LTE, even going so far as to purchase a batch of patents related to the technology, the company had said it wasn't willing to make the necessary sacrifices to include it in this year's iPhone.
"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," Apple executive Tim Cook said earlier this year.
Initial response to the iPhone 4S has been mixed. Though some have expressed excitement about the new Siri voice activation functionality, others criticized the device as being too incremental to justify the 16-month period between iPhone releases.
According to Penn Olson, the reactions of Chinese netizens on the Weibo micro-blogging service have been overwhelmingly negative. A backlash from Chinese customers could prove costly to Apple, which has said that its iPhone focus has been on China.
??If we can?t show off with it, what?s the point of buying one?? The iPhone 4S?s design has no major difference from the iPhone 4, is this a major reason why the 4S won?t be welcomed in China? Vain people don?t care about features, they care about how it looks,? the translation of one post read.
For its part, Wall Street has remained relatively optimistic about the device. Some analysts believe Apple will continue its impressive growth on the strength of an accelerated international rollout and new carrier partners.
Comments
Perhaps Jobs leaving before 4s announcement is not a coincidence. Nothing to be proud of really.
And you know the Koreans (LG, Samsung) and Taiwanese (HTC, Acer) will be waiting with meat cleavers on shelves in China, Taipei, Kuala Lumber and Bangkok by Febuary 2012? With Nokia SeaRay this December and, God forbid, Mango phone goes gold in Febuary 2012 as well?
If Apple take the usual schedule of May 2012, how many iPhone 4 customers in Asia, mainly China will remain faithful, for 30% of American buyers will be jobless and sleeping in their cars after April 2012?
(I do not expect all of us on this board will still be employed and can afford internet fee to post after this Christmas, by the way. Given how economy is going.)
First significant misstep of Apple in a really long period of time...
Perhaps Jobs leaving before 4s announcement is not a coincidence. Nothing to be proud of really.
Oh please... this is the same kind of nonsense that naysayers, whiners, and iHaters said about "Antennagate", the small screen, and using glass for both sides of the phone.
But hey, thanks to folks like you, we can add yet another "Apple is doomed" rant about coming out with a "4s" moniker instead of a number 5.
There was no misstep on Apple's part. This is the Apple's methodical and evolutionary approach to not rush things to market before they're ready.
I guess in your world, a new model that is 7-9 times faster than the previous phone is just not good enough for tech-heads like you.
First significant misstep of Apple in a really long period of time...
Perhaps Jobs leaving before 4s announcement is not a coincidence. Nothing to be proud of really.
Really? A wildly improved processor, remarkable camera, and awesome voice recognition is nothing to be proud of?
Oh please... this is the same kind of nonsense that naysayers, whiners, and iHaters said about "Antennagate"...
I know many Apple fans like to pretend that isn't a real problem. It is. Get over it. This is one of the reasons I bought a case for my iPhone 4. When I can decrease my signal by 2 bars or more by placing one fingertip on a spot on the side of the phone, there is a design flaw. Doesn't mean the phone is crap. Best phone I ever owned. Just stop pretending this problem doesn't exist.
Apple's newly-announced iPhone 4S is an incremental stopgap while the company prepares a phone branded as the "iPhone 5" with 4G Long-Term Evolution data speeds for next spring, one analyst claims.
Analyst Will Strauss, president of wireless chip market research firm Forward Concepts, explained to CNet his belief on why Apple showed off an iPhone 4S and not the rumored "iPhone 5" on Tuesday. The new device features the A5 processor, an improved camera, a redesigned antenna and an integrated voice recognition feature called Siri.
??If we can?t show off with it, what?s the point of buying one?? The iPhone 4S?s design has no major difference from the iPhone 4, is this a major reason why the 4S won?t be welcomed in China? Vain people don?t care about features, they care about how it looks,??
For goodness sake.
They seem to be arguing for change for the sake of change. How shallow can you get? The design of the iPhone and it's OS is world class, this is why Samsung created a clone along with Google's Android. The build quality of the iPhone is superb and it now has a dual core chip and a very, very good camera, there in your pocket when you need it. Perhaps if Apple made micro changes to the shape of the edges or the buttons people would have been extactic? I like the size of my iPhone in my pocket, it's big enough to be useful (with its gorgeous display) and small enough to comfortably 'disappear' in terms of comfort.
The development of the latest network technologies is in a state of flux, when hasn't it been? The 4s targets large segments of the technologies around the world currently in place. Apple will most likely have an LTE capable solution if or when LTE is widely rolled out. Why wouldn't they? In the meantime the 4s and Apple integrated sysetm - as a whole - will be creating a wake in which the rest of the industry will follow.
According to Penn Olson, the reactions of Chinese netizens on the Weibo micro-blogging service have been overwhelmingly negative. A backlash from Chinese customers could prove costly to Apple, which has said that its iPhone focus has been on China.
“‘If we can’t show off with it, what’s the point of buying one?’ The iPhone 4S’s design has no major difference from the iPhone 4, is this a major reason why the 4S won’t be welcomed in China? Vain people don’t care about features, they care about how it looks,” the translation of one post read.
This is what Apple will learn with regret. The China market had exploded because of the newly designed iPhone, iPad and Macbook Air. We don't want our notebook to be upgraded yearly, but the phone is different. If Apple plan to continue with this iPhone_s every two year then they will kiss goodbye the spectacular China market growth.
Really? A wildly improved processor, remarkable camera, and awesome voice recognition is nothing to be proud of?
The processor was available in March, I am pretty sure that Siri is a gimmick, a toy that would be fun to play for a dew days and forget. The fact that it was introduced with fanfare today was nothing else but "faire bonne mine a mauvais jeu" as French say.
Then we left with the camera upgrade. Was that really what they did for the last one and a half year?
Really? A wildly improved processor, remarkable camera, and awesome voice recognition is nothing to be proud of?
How do you know these statements are accurate? You've not used the "remarkable camera" or the "awesome voice recognition" yet.
The processor was available in March, I am pretty sure that Siri is a gimmick, a toy that would be fun to play for a dew days and forget. The fact that it was introduced with fanfare today was nothing else but "faire bonne mine a mauvais jeu" as French say.
Then we left with the camera upgrade. Was that really what they did for the last one and a half year?
To call Siri a "toy" and "gimmick" implies it is not useful. If it's not useful to you, fine - but that's subjective. I for one would love to dictate emails, texts, and ask for directions. To me and many others, that's a nice feature. You're free to not use it. It also uses GOBS of RAM... much more than is currently in the iPhone 4 and iPad 2.
Expanding on voice commands as an input method is a given in computing, not a toy. I suppose a keyboard is also a toy.
It also uses GOBS of RAM... much more than is currently in the iPhone 4 and iPad 2.
Nobody knows yet how much RAM is in the new iPhone.
The processor was available in March, I am pretty sure that Siri is a gimmick, a toy that would be fun to play for a dew days and forget. The fact that it was introduced with fanfare today was nothing else but "faire bonne mine a mauvais jeu" as French say.
Then we left with the camera upgrade. Was that really what they did for the last one and a half year?
The processor was available in March? While bearing the same name, I'm sure it's not identical to the iPad's A5 (which is world-leading, still), given the difference in form factor, power constraints, etc.
Also, just because you don't see the use in it, Siri looks pretty cool.
Obviously, the 4S was delayed to coincide with iOS 5.
I know many Apple fans like to pretend that isn't a real problem. It is. Get over it. This is one of the reasons I bought a case for my iPhone 4. When I can decrease my signal by 2 bars or more by placing one fingertip on a spot on the side of the phone, there is a design flaw. Doesn't mean the phone is crap. Best phone I ever owned. Just stop pretending this problem doesn't exist.
And just as many like to beat a dead horse over here, to divert attention over there. I never said the problem didn't exist. I'm pretending squat. Nice try spinning it though. Every phone has issues regardless of who makes it. People just seem to aim directly at Apple when other players are just as guilty, if not more.
My old Nokias, Sony-Erricsons, and Motorola phones all had ways to make the signal bars go down. I had to adjust the way I held each particular phone. After a few times to remember, it was a non-issue. Were people screaming and kicking about those? No.
My iP4 does not experience the finger-of-death. My phone case made no difference. It just means my conditions are different than yours. This is no more a "real problem" than the other phones. Maybe I'm just more forgiving of technology where some vocal people seem to expect absolute perfection in everything.
So if anyone needs to "get over it", it's you. ALL phones exhibit this "problem" to one degree or another. In the case of the iPhone, a hugely large majority of their owners - on a global level - have zero issues with it.
Apple's newly-announced iPhone 4S is an incremental stopgap while the company prepares a phone branded as the "iPhone 5" with 4G Long-Term Evolution data speeds for next spring, one analyst claims.
Oh lawd... didn't the rumor sites just get bodyslammed? And we're already throwing out a new round of crazy rumors?
Obviously, the 4S was delayed to coincide with iOS 5.
I'd also add that Apple likely dragged their feet on releasing the 4S because the 4 was selling so well.
The galaxy s 2 is better than this for god sake....