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Apple LTE-enabled iPhone Due in 2012, iPhone 4S Preparations for September 2011

Tuesday May 17, 2011 10:26 pm PDT by Arnold Kim

Though not a particular surprise, Digitime's sources claim that the LTE-enabled "iPhone 4S" is unlikely to launch until 2012.
Apple is likely to delay the launch of its LTE-enabled iPhones to 2012, said the sources, noting that the industry had also long been skeptical about the launch of LTE iPhones in 2011 as the implementation of LTE networks has not yet matured.
LTE is the next generation data transfer technology beyond 3G and is frequently labeled 4G. Both AT&T and Verizon are supporting LTE as their next generation data protocol.

Digitimes' report confusingly refers to the 2012 iPhone as the "4S" which is the name also given to expected 2011 iPhone. In a separate report Digitimes says that Apple is already lowering iPhone 4 orders in the second quarter of 2011 in anticipation of the new model in September.
Production of iPhone 4S will begin in August and the earliest launch may be in September. All the 3G and CDMA chips for iPhone 4S will be supplied by Qualcomm and the rear camera will be upgraded to a 8-megapixel resolution model with OmniVision Technologies and Taiwan-based Largan Precision to supply image sensors and lens kits respectively, the sources indicated.
Apple is widely expected to launch a new iPhone around September this year, but most have expected that support for 4G networks would likely wait until 2012. Other reports have also said that the proper LTE chips simply won't be ready for production in 2011.

Tag: digitimes.com
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ThisIsNotMe
50 months ago

Your spiffy new A5 (which really isn't that great of a processor, compared to a lot of what's already in the Android universe) won't make a whit of difference when every app being released is designed to support the A-4 and millions of iP4 users.

It's like the PS3 v. 360 -- the PS3 is loads more powerful, but most games are designed to be cross-platform, so they're programmed to the 360's specs and the PS3 doesn't see it's increased muscle get flexed.

It's a minor upgrade. At best, you'll end up with a phone that launches Safari quickly only to see it bottlenecked by low-speed 3G access while everyone else screams by on high-speed connections. Congratulations, you just re-bought the last 14.4K bps modem while everyone else was going to Ethernet.


Ya, sure looks like the A5 gets trounced by those pesky Android devices :rolleyes:

Rating: 7 Votes
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Mr Fusion
50 months ago
Once again, I'm happy to be on the "even" iPhone upgrade cycle. :)
Rating: 7 Votes
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ThisIsNotMe
50 months ago
I don't get why everyone is pissy over the 4 "GS" because the upgrade is "minor".

Did people no need the A5 vs A4 benchmarks in the iPad vs iPad 2?

It like saying that the 3G to 3GS upgrade was minor. The 3G to 3GS upgrade was probably the biggest leap in hardware.

Everyone is bitching because the case will stay the same...but all I have to say is 'so what'.

The inclusion of the A5 is a MAJOR upgrade. Period.
Rating: 5 Votes
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canderton
50 months ago
I'm actually glad the 4S won't be LTE enabled. For one, less battery life, but the main reason being I want to keep my unlimited data. And you better believe that once you step up to LTE, they'll force you into a tiered plan. If AT&T could just beef up their current 3G network, I'd be completely fine. 3G speeds are more than adequate for a phone.

If the 4S came with a slightly bigger screen, the A5 chip, more RAM, and possibly a 64GB version, I'd be a happy camper.
Rating: 3 Votes
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rfahey
50 months ago
Everytime you guys post a "4s" rumor i want to virtually slap you 'cross the face.
Rating: 3 Votes
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jason2811
50 months ago
Do people not understand how numbers work? If this next iPhone is indeed named the 4S, the phone that comes out in 2012 will not be called the iPhone 5. How would that make ANY sense to name the 6th revision of the phone the #5?

There are two options here: iPhone, 3G, 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 6 OR keep the normal number system iPhone (1), 3G (2), 3GS (3), iPhone 4, iPhone 5, iPhone 6.
Rating: 3 Votes
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cvaldes
50 months ago
This makes no sense. Increasing the full retail price of the iPhone will only increase Apple's cash reserves. That's great for shareholders, but it doesn't really affect customers since they won't put all of that windfall back into R&D.

Apple's margins on the iPhone are already stupendous; they are walking away with nearly 60% of the industry's profits despite their low market share.
Rating: 2 Votes
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cvaldes
50 months ago

Everybody says that is a good thing, so a slight price increase will be even better.

Please provide sources.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Kelmon
50 months ago
If you are the sort of person that upgrades their phone each year then I can imagine that the 4GS isn't going to be very exciting for someone with a 4G. However, I still have my 3GS and that struggles today with iOS 4 so I'm very much looking forward to the 4GS later this year. There's a lot that I like in the current 4G so it all looks good to me.

I'm also pretty sure that the UK doesn't have LTE (certainly not in my area) so I really couldn't care less about it. 3G is honestly fine and I'd rather have longer battery life.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Xenomorph
50 months ago

I think the next move will be 4G (not 4S), followed by a 4GS (if necessary) then onto the 5...


I'm sorry, but calling the *seventh* iPhone an "iPhone 5" is one of the sillier ideas.

So there could be an iPhone 4S, iPhone 4GS, iPhone 4GSXL, iPhone 4GSXXL, iPhone 4GSXXL Nano, iPhone 4GSSX, and then in 2017, the iPhone 5 finally comes out! Is that how this works? Perfect logic.

I mean, the fourth iPhone was called (amazingly), "iPhone 4". So obviously the iPhone 5 could only be the 7th, 8th, or 23rd iPhone. But certainly not the fifth iPhone released. That would make too much sense.

Actually, maybe the next iPhone will be called "iPhone 3", just to REALLY shake things up.
Rating: 2 Votes

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