New iPhone to have global 4G LTE capabilities

With Apple set to announce the next iPhone in a few days, the rumour mills continue to churn out new content regarding what may feature in the next flagship smartphone from Apple. The latest information comes via  The Wall Street Journal. Sources have informed them that the next generation handset will be 4G LTE capable, and will work on the fastest networks around the world including Europe and Asia.

According to the report, “Apple Inc.’ 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. The technical compatibility with so-called LTE networks removes a competitive danger for Apple and gives carriers a chance to sell their fastest data services to Apple’s base of iPhone customers.”

Apple next iPhone will work on the fastest networks

The report goes on to explain the benefits other brands such as Samsung have over Apple since they already have smartphones available which support LTE capabilities. They then explain about LTE technology and state that it is more fragmented than 3G wireless technology hence the process of making smartphones that work seamlessly across the world becomes a much more difficult task.

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The report goes on to state, “International Data Corp. analyst John Byrne estimates there are 36 LTE bands around the world, compared with 22 bands for the most popular version of 3G technology. While building a phone that supports multiple bands of LTE is possible, it presents a significant technical challenge to design chips needed to support all of the different bands.”

Earlier this year Apple introduced the new iPad and they had released a commercial that claimed that the iPad had 4G compatibility in Australia as well. However this was not the case and Apple was fined $2.25 million (AUD) by an Australian court for ‘misleading’ consumers with their commercial on 4G support in the country. The court determined that  Apple had implied “that an iPad with WiFi + 4G could connect directly to the Telstra LTE mobile data network in Australia, which it could not do,” according to the verdict emailed to Reuters by the regulator. Apple then accepted that there was a lack of compatibility.

Back in October of 2011, when the iPhone 4S was launched; many predicted that Apple was intending to launch an iPhone 5 along with it. This version of the iPhone was believed to feature a drastic design change along with bumped up specifications as compared with the iPhone 4. However, at the keynote event, Apple only launched the iPhone 4S, which looks almost identical to the iPhone 4. This disappointed many out there and even though the 4S has been flying off the shelves, many wanted a different looking handset. However, it appears that Apple had indeed intended on launching an iPhone 5, but was delayed due to Verizon’s 4G LTE connections. But it appears that Verizon has this sorted out so there should not be any hurdles that suddenly pop up from Apple enabling this feature in their handset.

Hopefully, when Apple unveils their next iPhone, the brand manages to iron out all these kinks and launch a handset that has a true global 4G LTE support.

For all the rumours on the next iPhone, click here.