The long-rumored Verizon iPhone got another shot in the arm recently, with MacDailyNews reporting that not only would the most anticipated phone that doesn’t even exist yet be here right after Christmas, but it would run on Verizon’s new 4G network that was just lit up a couple weeks ago.
Like all the Verizon iPhone rumors before it, this latest round of information comes from “a source we believe to be familiar with the matter,” according to MacDailyNews. Let’s take a look at some of the information from this supposed source and see if it makes any sense.
The Verizon iPhone is to be announced right after Christmas, available immediately, and only directly from Verizon stores
This seems like an odd time to announce something, assuming “right after Christmas” means the week between Christmas and the New Year. Apparently this timing is an olive branch to AT&T so it can enjoy one last big push in iPhone sales. This is also weird, if true.
Such a grace period certainly wouldn’t come from Verizon. What does Verizon care? It wants to sell phones. It’s possible that Apple has something to do with it, but why would Apple care all that much either? It wants to sell phones too. What’s AT&T going to do? Drop the iPhone from its lineup? AT&T has a 30-day return policy anyway, so it’s likely that most AT&T iPhones given as gifts could be returned pretty easily.
The notion that the phones would be available immediately is interesting but not really a huge deal. The idea that Verizon is controlling the sales channels internally is more interesting since it’d apparently be done to control leaks. No matter if or when a Verizon iPhone ever makes it to market, the company would be wise to control the initial sales channels itself just in case. (More on Techland: What Are the Top-Selling Apple Apps of 2010?)
If, on the other hand, “after Christmas” means something like “early January,” that would make a lot more sense since the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is coming up in the first week of January. A Verizon iPhone announcement at CES would steal the thunder from just about any other announcement at a show that’s gotten so big and bloated that almost zero noteworthy surprise announcements happen any more for fear that nobody will hear them. This would easily trump every other announcement there and inject some much-needed life back into CES.
A Verizon iPhone announcement the week after Christmas would generate buzz, for sure, but Apple and Verizon aren’t going to be able to get nearly as many reporters to go to an announcement during that week. Why not just announce it at a venue that’s swarming with tech reporters to begin with?
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?”