Rumor: CDMA iPhone In Engineering Testing

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This rumor just doesn’t seem to die. John Gruber, Apple fanboy pundit is reporting on his blog, Daring Fireball that Apple is currently working on a CDMA iPhone variant called “N92″. Although he’s confident that a CDMA iPhone exists, he isn’t so sure that the phone is headed for Verizon.

Gruber writes that it may not be going to Verizon. Instead, it could be going to Sprint. Or it could be going to one of the international carriers that use CDMA (all two of them). Gruber says that the “N92″ is at EVT (Engineering Verification Test) which is one step below DVT (Design Verification Test). DVT is when Apple gives employees the phones and they test them in the field – and precede to lose them in Redwood City bars.

And the next step after DVT? According to Gruber, it’s mass production of the phone. So, if true, the CDMA iPhone really isn’t far away. Gruber does admit that if Apple and Verizon are in talks over bringing the iPhone to Verizon, then those talks are likely only being held at the absolutely highest levels of each company. So, the waves of Verizon retail employees who send in blurrycam photos of the Droid X or what not wouldn’t have a clue that the iPhone is coming to Verizon.

As I’ve previously written here, I don’t think Apple needs the iPhone on Verizon. I don’t think Verizon needs the iPhone on Verizon. I don’t think AT&T will face a mass exodus if the iPhone is on Verizon. But, it’s been three years since the iPhone’s unveiling, and the United States is one of the very few countries where the iPhone is still exclusive to one carrier. If it’s time for an iPhone on every carrier, then it’s time.