iPhone 4G LTE? Not Yet, Says Apple

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4G is a pretty hot buzzword right now in the American mobile landscape. All of the four major carriers now have something they call 4G, and they’re all pushing 4G phones on the consumer. So, with all that attention, you expect the next iPhone to have 4G, right? Not so fast, says Apple. During today’s earnings conference call, Apple reported that they believe that the size of LTE chipsets still make them impractical to be included in the iPhone.

Regarding 4G LTE on the iPhone, Acting CEO/COO Tim Cook said in the conference call:

I was asked this question when we launched the iPhone with Verizon. The first generation of LTE chipsets forced a lot of design compromises. Some of those we are just not willing to make. We are extremely happy with the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3GS.

This isn’t a shock to bloggers like myself and others who have been saying that the LTE chipsets are too big for Apple to include them in the next iPhone. Apple is all about having next year’s iPhone be thinner and smaller than the last, and 4G would hamper that. I personally reviewed the HTC Thunderbolt, and also spent some hands-on time with all the first-gen Verizon 4G devices at CES. They all are kinda thick, much thicker than any iPhone.

Remember that Apple isn’t really a pioneer. (“You know what happened to the pioneers, right? They got arrows shot in their back end.”) The first iPhone didn’t have third-party apps or 3G. The iPhone 4 doesn’t have an OLED screen and it’s still the 3.5-inch screen, which to those of us who use a lot of different mobile phones, is starting to look pretty small. In all, it looks like Apple themselves are agreeing that the next iPhone won’t have 4G, as the mobile chipsets from Qualcomm and others just aren’t ready.