iPhone 5 Specs & Features to Include 4G Support, the HSPA+ Kind [China Unicom Apparently Confirms iPhone 4S Will Support HSPA+ 21Mbps Data Speeds]

Posted on TFTS by Chris Smith on Thursday, 29. September 2011 under: Mobile/Cell Phones

A few moths ago when discussing rumors mentioning 4G LTE support in the upcoming iPhone 5 we concluded that, depending who you’ll ask this fall, the fifth-generation iOS device will indeed pack 4G capabilities.

Verizon or Sprint will tell you it’s not 4G, while AT&T and T-Mobile would argue that HSPA+ speeds are also worthy to be described as a fourth-generation telecommunication standard.

Back in May we assumed that the new iPhone 5 will get at least 14.4Mbps download speeds, which would make it a 4G phone, according to AT&T. The iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G models can also offer such download speeds so it’s only logical to assume Apple will upgrade the iPhone’s data speeds as well in the fifth version. The current iPhone 4 only offers HSDPA 7.2Mbps download support.

Today we learn that a China Unicom executive revealed during a presentation at Macworld Asia that the iPhone 5 will support HSPA+ speeds. It would appear that the device will be ready to offer download speeds of up to 21Mbps, which is not unexpected if you ask me.

While we’re still waiting for Apple to properly unveil the new iPhone model or models next week, I will say that the fact that HSPA+ technology is supported by the fifth-generation iOS smartphone(s) does not imply that AT&T will sell the device as part of its 4G lineup. iPhone 5 4G sounds a bit silly if you ask me, and since it’s not a true 4G LTE device, I doubt Apple would want to market it as such.

The second-generation model was called the iPhone 3G and I’d expect the sixth-generation version to be called either iPhone LTE or iPhone 4G when it launches next year. But so far Apple doesn’t have any reason to use the 4G card when fake and real 4G networks are still to be deployed in various U.S. and worldwide markets.

But something tells me that AT&T will try to make the most of the iPhone 5’s HSPA+ support since, at those speeds, new AT&T iPhones will be able to surf the web faster than the similar models coming from Verizon or even Sprint, carriers whose networks don’t support HSPA technology

We’ll talk more iPhone 4S/5 specs and features on October 4, when the company is expected to announce its new iPhone(s) during the already official “Let’s talk iPhone” event.

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