No LTE or WiMax for New iPhone, Launch on October 14th?

covent garden satellite truck
Satellite TV truck outside Covent Garden retail store in London (Thanks, Connor)

The Wall Street Journal confirms the widely-held belief that the iPhone 4S/5 set to be introduced later tonight will not support the fastest current data networks built on LTE and WiMax technology. The news is not much of a surprise, but such last-minute reports by mainstream news outlets such as the Journal are frequently thought to be controlled leaks by Apple to help frame expectations for its upcoming announcements.

According to people familiar with the company’s plans, the hotly anticipated device won’t operate on long-term evolution or WiMAX fourth-generation networks. Those wireless networks promise speedier downloading to mobile devices of episodes of television programs, as well as cute baby photos.

The people said the device will work on 3G networks, which are broadly in use today and are the standard for the current iPhone 4. AT&T says its HSPA+ network has 4G-like speeds.

The specific mention of a lack of WiMAX compatibility would seem to put a significant damper on yesterday's highly questionable rumor that a redesigned iPhone 5 could in fact debut today as a WiMAX-capable device exclusive to Sprint until an LTE version comes out next year.

covent garden video screen
Covent Garden retail store transformed into theater for press simulcast of media event (via Matt Brian)

Meanwhile, 9to5Mac shares a couple of "uncorroborated" tips it has received claiming that the next iPhone will launch on October 14th and that the iPhone 4S could come in at $99/$199/$299 price points for 16 GB/32 GB/64 GB models. Such a pricing structure would likely mean that the 8 GB iPhone 4 reportedly set for introduction would be priced at $49 with an iPhone 3GS potentially available for free. All of the listed prices would be for on-contract devices.

October 14th has been rumored as a likely launch date based on vacation blackouts at Apple retail stores. The date would also match up with previous intervals between iPhone announcements and launches, as well as claims of a "mid-October" launch for the device.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence. The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles. iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look. Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
Mac Studio Feature

Apple Begins Selling Refurbished Mac Studio With M4 Max and M3 Ultra Chips at a Discount

Thursday June 12, 2025 10:14 am PDT by
Apple today added Mac Studio models with M4 Max and M3 Ultra chips to its online certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, Japan, Singapore, and many European countries, for the first time since they were released in March. As usual for refurbished Macs, prices are discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. Note that Apple's ...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...

Top Rated Comments

NoSoup4U Avatar
179 months ago
It's not about the hardware. It's about the biggest interface change since multitouch: talk to your phone.

"Let's talk iPhone"
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Flav247 Avatar
179 months ago
Apple trolls the media like a seasoned internet forum troll. Well done.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dorfdad Avatar
179 months ago
I'm in Australia and I already know the results since I am from your future! I can't tell you however what happened or it will break the time / space continuation. Needless to say apple has a few surprises in store..
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jmcrutch Avatar
179 months ago
This is exactly right. DON'T EXPECT IT TO BE HARDWARE FOCUSED. This is iOS 5 event with some updates to iPhone (4S).
This is totally backwards!

The WWDC event was about iOS5. We don't need two events in four months just to release a OS update.

June was about the Software. Today is a HARDWARE event with some updates to iOS5.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blockburner28 Avatar
179 months ago
I get the feeling that nobody is gonna be happy after this announcement. We might get the 5, but it won't be 4G.

I will be happy. i'm out of contract and my evo broke a few weeks ago. I need a phone for business purposes. This touch pro 2 isn't cutting it lol.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
acearchie Avatar
179 months ago
I really hope they have something to spice this up.

It cannot be "just" a 4s with all this live cross continent streaming etc...

As a lot have said previously this is Tim's chance to really make his mark and show how Apple is going to proceed.

Either way I'm definitely looking forward to the live updates!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)