For Those Wondering Why No 4G iPhone Yet, This May Explain It.
I stumbled across this article from yesterday on Forbes, and haven't seen it posted here yet. It seems to have a valid reason why there is no 4G iPhone yet, and if one were to take the next leap, why there isn't a 4G BlackBerry showing in the pipeline yet.
I don't normally post on this forum, but I didn't see any others on this subject, thought ya'll might like to mull it over.
Brian Caulfield
SHINY OBJECTS
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4G iPhone�s Chip Won�t Come In Until Early 2012
Apr. 20 2011 - 7:12 pm | 8,080 views | 0 recommendations | 3 comments
Apple can introduce an iPhone 5 any time � but a 4G handset won�t arrive before next year.
Rumor has it the next-generation iPhone won�t arrive until September. If so, it won�t offer the crazy fast data speeds promised by next-generation 4G wireless* networks.
That�s because access to the turbo-charged networks that make Verizon�s Thunderbolt handset crazy fast require a combination of chips Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said Wednesday Apple won�t use.
In response to a question from Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty on Apple�s quarterly earnings call Wednesday, Apple�s Cook said today�s 4G chips � which rely on a wireless technology dubbed Long Term Evolution (LTE) � don�t meet 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.
Those chips won�t appear in handsets until next year, says Will Strauss, president of wireless chip tracker Forward Concepts. �They�re right that there�s nothing out there that fits the bill, and likely nothing will until the fourth quarter of this year,� Strauss says when asked about Cook�s remarks.
The only 4G handset on the market in the United States, Verizon�s Thunderbolt, currently relies on a pair of chips to work. One chip, from Samsung, communicates with Verizon�s 4G networks, allowing the handset to achieve blazing data speeds of between 5 and 20 MBPS. Another chip, from Qualcomm, lets the handset talk to Verizon�s 3G network.
That two chip solution is needed because Verizon�s 4G network isn�t widespread enough for the carriers to offer handsets that rely on 4G alone, Strauss explains. The solution: a new generation of chips that combine support for 4G and 3G on a single chip,allowing handset makers to offer slim handsets that don�t gobble up battery life.
Chipmakers such as Qualcomm,, ST Ericcson, and Intel won�t begin offering customers samples of such chips until late this year. And those chips won�t begin appearing in handsets until next year, Strauss predicts. *As a result, there won�t be a 4G iPhone any earlier than that.
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