Sprint and T-Mobile USA customers may not have to wait that long for a shot at the next iPhone.
That's according to Piper Jaffray analyst Chris Larsen, the latest to weigh in on the mounting speculation that carriers beyond AT&T and Verizon Wireless will get the next iPhone. Last week, Citadel analyst Shing Yin said he believed Apple would begin selling the iPhone for Sprint later this year.
| iPhone 5 Coming to Sprint and T-Mobile |
A move to all four national carriers would greatly expand Apple's ability to reach the masses, critical at a time when smartphones running on Google's Android software have overrun the market. Adding Sprint and T-Mobile would increase Apple's addressable market by 30 percent, Larsen said.
The next iPhone is expected to be a universal device. Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo said in April that the next iPhone will be a global device, suggesting that Apple will sell one device to both carriers. Larsen said there are few technical hurdles to ensure the phone is compatible with both Sprint and T-Mobile.
| iPhone 4 White Verizon Wireless |
Verizon Wireless talks about the next iPhone — iPhone 5 maybe.
Surprisingly, incoming Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam talked about the iPhone 5 release date, and how it could help them get more iPhone customers while the mobile and wireless industry is booming courtesy of Apple and Google.
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Few days back, 9to5mac reported that Apple is working on a version of the iPhone that will work on Sprint network. Mark Gurman of 9to5mac believes that “The physical design of this device is akin to the iPhone 4 of today, so this might be the iPhone 4S device with support for all carriers.” Both Apple’s “black labs” and Sprint’s R&D department are testing the new phone. Apple has even installed Sprint-compatible cell towers on their campus for testing.
Will iPhone 5 deliver best of the rest features? What other specs will it come with? And many more questions like these might be hovering on your mind. If yes, you would undeniably want to spare out time to check out the most anticipated features of iPhone 5.
4G Support
Micro-HDMI out
Customizable home screen
More carriers
Sprint iPhone chatter is definitely intensifying. We’ve heard previous Sprint iPhone rumors in the past, and just last week an analyst claimed T-Mobile and Sprint are going to get the iPhone 5, or iPhone 4S, considering the same person suggested the future iPhone will be a slightly improved iPhone 4 version.
The oft-rumored iPhone 5 will hit store shelves in September with a faster processor and a similar look to the iPhone 4, according to reports. The new Apple rumors contradict previous assertions the so-called iPhone 5 wouldn't start production until September for a launch during the holidays or early 2012. Instead, the next iteration of Apple's iPhone would go into production in the summer around June or July to get ready for the big launch in the fall, according to three anonymous sources who spoke to Reuters.
It's not clear what kind of a faster processor the iPhone 5 would have, but most observers expect Apple to use the dual-core A5 chip that debuted in the iPad 2.
Little else is known about the next iPhone, as most speculation has been about when the new smartphone would launch and not what new features the device would offer.
Since the iPhone first launched in 2007, Apple has introduced a new version every year in June during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. But most speculation suggests a 2011 iPhone launch would happen later than usual due, at least in part, to Apple's launch of a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 on Verizon in early 2011.