No LTE iPhone Until 2012?

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Posted April 22, 2011 at 3:01pm by iClarified

In Apple's quaretly earnings call Wednesday, Tim Cook, Apple's Chief Operating Officer said that today's 4G LTE chips do not meed Apple's needs.

“The first generation of LTE chip-sets force a lot of design compromises with the handset, and some of those we are just not willing to make,” Cook says. Separately, Cook declined to talk about the timeline for introducing a new iPhone. “We never comment on unannounced products,” Cook said.

This serves a huge blow to those who were hoping for an LTE iPhone 5 launching in September. However, the next iPhone could still support AT&T's HSPA+ network, which they claim as "4G."

The only 4G LTE handset on the market in the United States is Verizon's Thunderbolt, which relies on a pair of chips to work with the network. One chip is for LTE 4G, while the other is for EVDO 3G.

The solution is a new generation of chips that combine support for 4G and 3G on one single chip, allowing handset makers to improve efficiency of devices. As a result, we most likely won't see a LTE iPhone until the efficiency of LTE chips are improved.

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rbs2000 - April 23, 2011 at 7:58am

It really doesnt matter if you are with att,att doesnt have unlimited data anymore. So what the point of havin 4G you can even use it. 2gig give me a break. Thats the only thing I hate about att..limiting you on data ..Will att ever go back to unlimited data plan?

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JL - April 22, 2011 at 7:04pm

Why does this serve as a big surprise to many? The powers that be have been hinting at this for awhile now. Besides, it's best to wait until a totally new iPhone drops next year anyway. The iP5 is nothing but an improved iP4. If you have an iP4 and don't do much photography, or care how fast your phone is, the iP5 is really a waste of money. Just wait until next year. Of course we don't know the specs, but the only highlights I see are the 8MP camera and the A5 chip. Big whoop **note sarcasm** My Verizon iP4 is doing just fine and I can wait until next year. Guys, don't get upset and think your purchase wasn't worth it. The iP4 really is a superior smartphone and you should just wait. Now, an iPhone on the Verizon LTE would be FIRE. I've been on Verizon for 1 month now and started out w/ the Thunderbolt. The phone and Android sucked, but the LTE speeds were as good as my mid-level internet package I had w/ Qwest. Actually, sometimes faster on the upstream/downstream via speedtest.net. Switched back to iPhone (left att and had the iP4) and I don't even miss the LTE... but it would be nice on an iPhone, lol.

iDood - April 22, 2011 at 5:27pm

LTE? Big whoop!

Tibian - April 22, 2011 at 3:59pm

this makes me want to find all the people posting about how i was an "idiot for buying the verizon iphone on release when the LTE version will be released in a few months" and slap them in the face. now they're not going to get the LTE version for a year AFTER me, that is assuming they sign a 2 year contract to get the new iphone in September. i hope this is confirmed, and it sounds pretty reasonable.

Tibian - April 22, 2011 at 5:39pm

2.2 million new iphones on verizon's network in Q4 alone, doesn't seem like they'll be shutting down anytime soon. if VZW does shut down, hopefully by that time the iPhone model will be dual band. but you're right, when CDMA goes, the iphone i have will be useless. but i'm not going to let the fear of "not being able to transfer providers when the network shuts down" keep me from having a great phone now.

iPhones - April 22, 2011 at 3:56pm

This is ridiculous