iPhone 5

[kkstp09]

Do you think that with the next iPhone almost certainly having LTE we will see both bands for Sprint LTE ie: including 800 band. If not there will really be no point until iPhone 5s?

[strung]

probably.

[bigsnake49]

Do you think that with the next iPhone almost certainly having LTE we will see both bands for Sprint LTE ie: including 800 band. If not there will really be no point until iPhone 5s?

 

It depends on whether the chipset that the iPhone will be using will include the band or not. Something tells me that it won't. Sprint won't deploy 800Mhz LTE until the second half of 2013. So I would be very surprised if Qualcomm/Apple/Sprint actually included it in the 5. On the other hand, I expect them to include 800Mhz 1x Advanced and 1900Mhz LTE.

[ChadBroChillz]

I think it is possible. The ATT iPad included LTE 700 and AWS, and ATT does not have an AWS network or even plans to use their AWS network anymore.

 

If apple could fit 700 and 2100/1700, I do not see why 800 and 1900 are not possible.

[ericdabbs]

Do you think that with the next iPhone almost certainly having LTE we will see both bands for Sprint LTE ie: including 800 band. If not there will really be no point until iPhone 5s?

 

800 MHz LTE = Highly unlikely. Sprint begins 800 MHz LTE FIT testing in the Fall. Robert has mentioned that phones will begin to have 800 MHz LTE support starting Q2 2013 phones.

 

800 MHz CDMA = Highly likely since all LTE phones currently have support in this band

 

1900 MHz LTE = YES!!! Really a no brainer since iPhone 5 will have LTE and Sprint only has LTE in this band for now.

 

1900 MHz CDMA/EVDO = Definitely will have this one.

[Craig]

If they include all the LTE bands in the iPhone 5, then they have no reason to overcharge everyone again in 6 months when they release the iPhone 5s, which will include all LTE bands. Follow the money.

[surma884]

If they include all the LTE bands in the iPhone 5, then they have no reason to overcharge everyone again in 6 months when they release the iPhone 5s, which will include all LTE bands. Follow the money.

 

Just an FYI. Apple's release cycle is at least 12 months.

[bigsnake49]

If they include all the LTE bands in the iPhone 5, then they have no reason to overcharge everyone again in 6 months when they release the iPhone 5s, which will include all LTE bands. Follow the money.

 

How about follow the release of Qualcomm chipsets with 800MHz LTE as well as 2500MHz TD/LTE. Unless Apple starts making their own baseband chips, they are slaves to Qualcomm's schedule. Even then, they also tend to stick to their 12 month upgrade schedule.

[Deval]

Honestly, and this is strickly my opinion, but living in a dense area like mine, having just LTE on 1900 is good enough for me. Give me 800 1x for inbuilding coverage, where I most likely will have access to WIFI, and give me LTE on 1900 while I'm on my daily commute.

 

I'm curious what the next iPhone (2013) will be, considering the speculation of this year's device.

[xenadu]

This will be entirely driven on whether or not the QualComm 22nm LTE chipset supports it or not. Apple, QualComm, and everyone else is well aware that phones will need to support many bands going forward and that there are increasingly strong pressures to keep the devices universal.

 

From QualComm's end the hardware will talk in the 800mhz band but the software on the chip will need to support the different frequency sets between the 800 and SMR frequencies. Assuming that is the case the same antenna should work for both. It would seem crazy to me to only support voice in that band when a few software tweaks should enable LTE but who knows.

 

If it doesn't support it, expect Sprint to push hard to offload all non-iPhone traffic to 800 SMR to make room for iPhones at 1900... However given that the 4 and 4S should fit the free and cheap slots in the lineup Sprint will be keeping EVDO around for some time. Obviously there will be at least one EVDO carrier for years and years, but I figure they'll have to keep an even mix of it and LTE for longer than we would like.