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AT&T Leak Hints iPhone 5 Will be LTE-Compatible

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A leaked AT&T document suggests that Apple’s iPhone 5 may in fact come with LTE-compatible radios as part of the carrier’s second stage of LTE deployment. The leaked document was created earlier this year and indicates that AT&T hopes to get its LTE smartphones ready by ‘phase 2’ of its network deployment, which includes ‘LTE smartphone, HSPA+ smartphone, iPhone migration.’

As LTE smartphone is also mentioned, it could potentially indicate that AT&T is looking at Android and other platforms for 4G LTE data speeds, including potentially webOS, Windows Phone 7, and the BlackBerry platform that AT&T currently supports at this time.

According to site iFans, this is all supposed to happen in September, and may suggest that the next-generation iPhone may be among the early smartphones on AT&T’s lineup to support 4G LTE. However, as the document was created so early in the year, it could stand that Apple has since rethought of its 4G LTE strategy and won’t be an early adopter to the next-generation mobile broadband network. Since the iPhone 4 on Verizon Wireless was launched, Apple has made it clear that LTE was not ready and the emerging technology’s battery drain issue–which is apparent on early Android smartphones like the HTC Thunderbolt–would force Apple to make design concessions that it was not willing to make to afford a good user experience, perhaps that design concession would mean a thicker iPhone design to accommodate a larger battery.

Also, since the beginning of the year, we’ve also heard that the next-generation iPhone, to succeed the iPhone 4, would be called the iPhone 4S–that model is said to be an incremental upgrade to the current iPhone 4, perhaps with a faster processor (utilizing Apple’s ARM-based A5 dual-core chipset rather than the A4 chip), and increased network compatibility for Sprint and T-Mobile‘s network in the U.S.

 

10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. Clipse270

    06/27/2011 at 2:54 pm

    If the Iphone were to come out in september, why has apple not mentioned it yet, and how will they go about bringing it to light?  If they announce it at the ipod conference, then it should technically be released several weeks after the announcement, not the next day.  And there is nothing exciting planned in august that is worthy of such a huge announcement such as the iphone 5.  If it is announced in september, why should we believe it will be for sale in september?

    • Jacob Weihrauch

      06/27/2011 at 2:58 pm

      I suppose the rumors that have ran rapid through the internet would lead anyone to assume the iPhone 5 would be in September, if not in August.  If anyone thinks about the iPhone release on a business level, Apple cannot afford to wait until late 2011 (Oct – December) and definitely not wait until 2012.  There are numerous Android phones that are coming out that current iOS users would be tempted to change to, just because their iPhone 3GS is not cutting it.  It will be September at the latest.  No doubt.

      • gEEk

        06/27/2011 at 3:21 pm

        If an iPhone 3GS isn’t meeting a user’s needs or is worn out and needs replacing the user can upgrade to an iPhone 4.  In every hardware performance catagory the iPhone 4 is either very competitive or industry-leading.  Most possible upgrade technologies are not yet mature enough to create a product that meets Apple’s design goals.  Just like computers before them hardware-wise the iPhone is maturing and a yearly refresh cycle with major changes in specs like the recent past is no longer needed.  The iPhone did need a software refresh and that is what Apple announced.

        I agree with Clipse270.  I think if Apple was releasing new iPhone hardware this year they would have announced it along with iOS 5 at their iPhone event, not at their traditional iPod and media event.

        • Anonymous

          06/28/2011 at 12:47 am

          Umm no… I think iOS was such a major overhaul they needed to iron out what would launch from day 1 with iOS before making some final design decision in iPhone 5.

          Apple cannot afford to go another 6 months without a new phone. Boy Genious has a really good track record and reputation, he would not risk that reputation on such a bold claim unless he got some insider info about Apple.

  2. Anonymous

    06/28/2011 at 12:58 am

    I, unlike most people and especailly the andirt geekdom, am very informed abpout LTE and I am not too crazy about it. Yeah it will be 10x faster than current 3G speeds. But so what? ATT can barely offer decent 3G service. WHY ON EARTH would i want them to start focusing on LTE?

    Until iPhone 5 gets a real good untethered jailbreak, I wont be switching. Right now, with my JBn iPhone 4, i use over 150GB of data on ATT per month. YES ONE HUNDRED FIFTY, you read right. My peak month was over 200GB by using my iPhone 4 to watch netflix and work from home. Basically, my iPhone 4 served as my home wifi router allowing me, and my roomate to use the internet daily.

    I never had a hiccup… So honestly, while iOS 5 is cool, I am in no hurry to give up what i have now. The iPhone 4 is the best phone on the market. And I dont care how much the geek claim that better hardware means a better phone. That is total BULL. Yeah better hardware can improve certain aspects of a device or the experirnce it provides its user. BUT BY NO MEANS does bigger better faster hardware defince a product or its overall value.

    • Nitebreed

      06/29/2011 at 4:20 pm

      Okay IQ guy. How is the iphone 4 the best phone on the market?

    • JT

      08/29/2011 at 4:43 pm

      Cool story bro!

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