Jeffries & Co. analyst Peter Misek issued a research note to clients today in which he claims the next iPhone will be branded the ‘iPhone 4S’ and will debut in September. The iPhone 4S will reportedly be a minor revamp of the iPhone including “minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ support.”
The iPhone 4S however, would not feature an LTE 4G chipset. Misek writes that despite Apple’s hopes that LTE chipsets would be available in sufficient quantities for the next iPhone, the Qualcomm LTE chipset Apple would have used “is currently not achieving yields sufficient for inclusion in the iPhone 5.” Hence, Apple has prepared a version of the iPhone without LTE.
iPhone fans may bemoan the lack of major new hardware features in the next iteration, but it seems that Apple is going to be relying on iOS as a major selling point for the new phone. Also, US users will be happy to learn that Misek is claiming that Apple is preparing to expand US carriers, adding Sprint and T-Mobile by the end of the year.
Misek’s assertions for the expanded carriers seem to match a post from BoyGeniusReport that Apple is testing T-Mobile-compatible iPhone 4s in the wild. While the existing iPhone 4 will work on T-Mobile’s GSM network in the US, it is limited to EDGE speeds as the AT&T and T-Mobile systems use different frequencies to support 3G data.
Misek also states that Apple is set to add China Mobile as a carrier in China by the end of 2011.
[via Forbes]
Rumor: ‘iPhone 4S’ to launch in September with T-Mobile and Sprint as added carriers originally appeared on TUAW on Fri, 13 May 2011 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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