Sprint’s media event on October 7th sparked new speculation that the 2012 iPhone 5 will indeed be a 4G LTE smartphone. Does T-Mobile’s recent comments about why they are not carrying the iPhone 4S also suggest that 4G for the iPhone 5 is a reality?
While the form factor and screen size were the leading rumored upgrades for the iPhone 5 prior to the somewhat anti-climactic iPhone 4S announcement on October 4th, the leading rumors for the 2012 release of the iPhone 5 recently have been all about 4G. Much of the reason for this is Sprint’s otherwise sleepy follow-up press conference on October 7th, which, in addition to heralding the inclusion of the iPhone 4 and 4S, spent a lot of time talking about a major 4G rollout for the company (of which they currently do not have the money to complete), starting in mid 2012.
Many feel that, based on the comments of Sprint’s executives, that it is not a coincidence that Sprint is now selling the iPhone and rolling out the 4G LTE red carpet a.s.a.p. We wrote an article about it here.
Today, T-Mobile has made it back into the iPhone 4S news cycle by giving a more detailed explanation as to why they won’t be carrying the iPhone 4S “this season.” In a nutshell, Apple hasn’t blessed the partnership — probably a result of the still unsettled issues of the ATT/T-Mobile merger — and thus is either unable or unwilling to make an iPhone 4S that works on the T-Mobile 3G network.
In a statement, T-Mobile said the following: “T-Mobile thinks the iPhone is a good device and we’ve expressed our interest to Apple to offer it to our customers. Ultimately, it is Apple’s decision. The issue remains that Apple has not developed a version of the iPhone with technology that works on our fast 3G and 4G networks.”
In some ways, consumers, analysts, and investors could all take this statement to be a public challenge to Apple, persuading/slightly embarrassing them into including T-Mobile into the list of U.S. mobile companies that carry the iPhone. But another perspective on this recent statement may give yet another circumstantial piece of evidence that Apple’s iPhone 5 may in fact end up on the T-Mobile network, sporting 4G LTE capabilities.
Another line of the statement reads as follows: ”We believe a capable version of the iPhone for our 3G and 4G networks would offer an additional compelling option for our customers on a fast 4G network. However, the iPhone is not the only option to experience the benefit that smartphones offer.”
When T-Mobile refers to a “capable version of the iPhone,” are they referencing the iPhone 4S or a yet-to-be released iPhone 5 with true 4G capabilities?
It is pure speculation of course, but I believe that this is a suggestion that T-Mobile is jockeying to get the iPhone 5 in 2012, as they believe it will indeed be a “capable version of the iPhone” that will be 4G.
If you are an iPhone user who was disappointed by the lack of 4G on the iPhone 4S, I believe that this is yet another shred of evidence that 4G LTE is coming to the iPhone 5.
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