Rumors have put the iPhone 5 out for release some time this fall, or perhaps even next year. I’m still hopeful that it will come this summer, as it has for every summer since 2007, and that it will be a universal iPhone. What do I mean by that? It will support 3G bands for each and every carrier in the U.S. After all, if Apple plans on giving Android – a platform available on a number of smartphones on every single carrier – a run for its money, it just might have to.
According to a “loose tip and some speculation” from BGR, it just might happen with the next iteration of the iPhone. The news site reports:
What if the iPhone 5 not only supported both CDMA and GSM networks, but also supported all five 3G bands in use today? This would open up T-Mobile USA’s 33 million subscribers to Apple’s iconic handset, while also some smaller carriers like WIND in Canada and others. Additionally, if AT&T’s T-Mobile USA acquisition is approved, great — T-Mobile USA’s “4G” network would be immediately available to help lighten the load on AT&T’s current network.
Those are big “what-ifs,” but it would make sense to have an iPhone that supports every single network in the U.S. First, it would work just about everywhere else in the world, and it would save Apple from having to ship CDMA-only iPhone models, and GSM ones. Additionally, T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network would be supported and the iPhone would have access to arguably one of the faster 4G networks in the country (probably only bested by Verizon’s insanely fast LTE network).
What do you think? Would it be in Apple’s best interest to ship an iPhone 5 that would have innate support for every network, perhaps only locked by carrier to provide users from jumping around with subsidized devices?
[Via: BGR]