Next iPhone Will Reportedly Have "Global [4G] LTE Support" - MacRumors
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Next iPhone Will Reportedly Have "Global [4G] LTE Support"

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NewImageAccording to a report from The Wall Street Journal, the next iPhone -- to be announced next week -- will support 4G LTE networks around the world, though it won't be available on every carrier.

Apple Inc.'s next iPhone will work on the fastest wireless networks around the world—including in the U.S., Europe and Asia—though it is unlikely to be available on every carrier, people familiar with the matter said.

[…]

It isn't likely to work with all carriers' LTE networks in all countries, the people said, though it wasn't clear which would be left out.

The first Apple device to support the higher-speed 4G LTE networks was the third-generation iPad, which supported AT&T and Verizon's networks -- but notably didn't work internationally. This resulted in complaints in numerous countries including Australia and across Europe.

Based on a roadmap of Qualcomm's mobile chips, it was predicted a year ago that the iPhone would not gain LTE until this quarter. The chipset that promises LTE speeds with much improved power consumption is the Qualcomm MDM9615. Conveniently, that chip is set to arrive in time for late 2012 delivery -- just in time for the new iPhone.

Battery life has been a sticking point for Apple, with the company's engineers refusing to compromise on run-time to support higher data speeds. The new iPhone battery runs at 3.8 volts and 5.45 watt hours versus 3.7 volts and 5.3 watt hours in the iPhone 4S.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

J
jvpython
178 months ago
Too little and too late. Android FTW

If you were so confident of Android's superiority why would you create an account on an Apple forum simply to troll?
Score: 39 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
cvaldes
178 months ago
In regards to this topic, the main problem with the iPhone in the US market is that the Sprint/Verizon/AT&T/Virgin Mobile, etc iPhone can only be used on *that* respective network.
That's the carriers' fault, not Apple's.

American cellular companies suck.

GSM to CDMA?
LTE technology is separate from GSM/UTMS and CDMA/EV-DO.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pipa Avatar
pipa
178 months ago
Too little and too late. Android FTW

Damn fandroid's. It's funny how they come to macrumors to troll.

:apple:
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Carlanga Avatar
Carlanga
178 months ago
Apple are so behind the times. Android devices have had this capability for a while now.

sigh... not w/ the same power consumption. I like LTE, just don't love how much battery it sucks out of the current devices. Android LTE phones are like buying a car that can run really fast, but you have to stop every 1/4 mile to fill it up w/ gas.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
F
fins831
178 months ago
Its funny how LTE matters now, despite Android having it for a year and a half.

LTE came out and the battery life was atrocious, now they will be able to offer comparable battery life to 3G phones, and improving on that with each release (we hope).
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
ARandomFellow
178 months ago
Its funny how LTE matters now, despite Android having it for a year and a half.

It's funny how you choose to ignore the reason Apple didn't include 4G and instead pretend that Apple decided it didn't matter. What they had to decide, more or less, was whether it mattered enough to make it worth the hit to the battery life it would have required, thereby making the iPhone as terrible as every one else's phones. It was a considered choice. Battery life or Faster data. Given that the iPhone has remained successful as have several competing phones that went the other route, cold, hard logic would suggest that neither choice was wrong or right for everyone. That's why it's good to have competition. Different ways of doing similar things provide the consumer with choices that are meaningful to them.

And along comes Qualcomm with a solution to everyone's problem. Win Win!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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