The Verizon iPhone will be a 4G (LTE) handset that’s backwards-compatible with Verizon’s 3G network
This idea can be argued pretty heavily from both sides, actually.
The argument for a 4G Verizon iPhone is that Apple may have been able to use Verizon’s new 4G network as a loophole to get out of its exclusivity contract with AT&T, which supposedly runs until 2012. Apple could have said to AT&T, “We want to launch a 4G iPhone and you guys don’t have a 4G network yet. Besides, our deal was drafted based on the available technology at the time—3G. We have no 4G deal with you.”
The argument against a 4G iPhone on any network is that Apple is notoriously cautious about using new technology—generally waiting a generation or two, especially when it comes to the iPhone. Remember how the first iPhone wasn’t even a 3G phone? Remember how the latest iPhone finally got a flash for the camera? And a front-facing camera?
These 4G networks are notorious battery hogs and Verizon’s currently having some pretty major issues with the handoff between its 3G and 4G networks taking upwards of two minutes in some cases. For a company like Apple that’s so consumed with the user experience, the fact that Verizon’s 4G network launched less than a month ago is by far the biggest reason against the idea of a 4G iPhone any time in the near future. (More on Time.com: Want To Know What The Top Tech of 2010 Was?)
However, Apple has exhibited some rare early mover activity in recent months. It beat everyone to market with the iPad, which is more of a general example, but it also was one of the first major computer companies to use solid state memory for an entire line of computers (MacBook Air) and its rental-only strategy with Apple TV is unique as well. The iPhone 4 took some risks with a 960×640 screen that turned out pretty well, an all-glass backside thought to be prone to cracking, and the questionable antenna design that turned out to get people so riled up, Apple gave out free bumpers.
So it could be that Apple is starting to take some bigger risks. Perhaps it would position a 4G connection on an iPhone as a “use it sparingly” feature similar to how Sprint positioned its early 4G phones.
This MacDailyNews rumor also contends that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is “upset that carriers cannot seem to get their LTE act together more quickly” and that Apple has been “helping” carriers build out their LTE networks for a rumored iPhone 5 that’ll be LTE-only and available on all carriers this summer. That all seems like a pretty major stretch but, hey, Apple is weird like that sometimes.
As with any and all Verizon iPhone rumors, don’t bet on a single thing unless you hear it directly from Apple or Verizon. That being said, a 4G Verizon iPhone would certainly be a hell of a way to finally put all the rumors to rest.
More on TIME.com:
Someday, Nobody Will Ask “PC or Mac?”