LTE iPhone 5 coming this fall? If you're jonesing for a 4G LTE iPhone 5, you may only have to wait until this fall – and move to the United Arab Emirates. Or not. "Yes, we are in talks with most smartphone manufacturers including Apple on the rollout of the 4G handset, iPhone 5 later this year," UAE wireless carrier Etisalat spokesman Ali Al Ahmad told …
He also means the physical size of the handset, either because the chipset itself is physically bulky, or because the poor power consumption means a larger battery is necessary. First generation handsets with new technologies are often clunky for this reason, and Apple doesn't do clunky. In addition, Apple needs a huge number of whatever chipset it chooses. Manufacturers who produce a lot of different models of phone can mix and match between models to cope with the numbers of whatever parts they have available, but because Apple sell the same thing to everybody, they need huge numbers of the same ones.
So, I am sure that Apple will release an LTE iPhone as soon as they can obtain a reasonably priced, low power, physically small, non-buggy LTE chipset that can be sourced in enormous numbers. This is not going to happen this year. I am sure Apple would like it to happen by next June/July, but I am not sure this is doable even by then. So my money is on an iPhone 5 this September with a much better CPU and GPU (likely the same as the iPad 2), a (significatly) better camera, probably (but not definitely) CDMA and GSM in the same phone, and maybe some cosmetic changes. Then we will see the LTE iPhone a year after that.
...Was more likely to refer not to cost of parts but size - though I acknowledge that pretty much amounts to a straight trade-off with the point Rik did raise - battery life.
Personally I'm not at all convinced 4g is going to really prove to be a godsend. For me, I would much rather trade speed for increased reliability. If the choice is between 4G with 3G patterns of reliability / robustness or universal, reliable, 3G speed I can be sure of, then give me the greater reliability any day. I find I'm in wi-Fi zones frequently enough I'm rarely inconvenienced by any need to do heavy lifting over 3G, but I am continually inconvenienced by not being able to simple web page loads or Google map loads when moving through areas with patchy coverage. I'm aware 4G tech gives better capacity for the available over the air spectrum, but that is offset by faster access speeds. Maybe they should aim for lower speed but increased reliability. It's all a trade-off. Perhaps an expert out there can tell us if 4G will bring improvements on both axes?
... collective w*nk fest that is the build up to the next piece of fruit branded mediocre, over priced, under-spec'd, 'designed by turds in california' but made by chinese dollar a day slaves (driven to suicide)... technology,
.....seriously you people are like beaten housewives going back for more of Job's 'love'.
And yes i own an iPhone.
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