Apple plans to release new iPhone hardware this summer—this is widely accepted among the Apple community despite the lack of any announcement from Apple. But more rumored details about the hardware and its expected launch date supports Steve Jobs' promise that it will be an "A+ update." This new hardware will supposedly launch on AT&T in the US, but yesterday we heard from the Wall Street Journal that a CDMA-based version was destined for Verizon sometime this year. Several analysts are less certain than WSJ's sources, but Apple may be ready to make the CDMA leap to stave heated competition from Android.After WSJ's story mentioned the obvious—that a new iPhone was coming this summer—Daring Fireball posted a number of expected features of the upcoming iPhone refresh. The device will likely be powered by a version (perhaps the exact same one) of the A4 processor inside the iPad. It may also have a 960 x 640 pixel display, a front facing camera, and iPhone OS 4.0 is expected to enable some form of third-party multitasking.
All of those prognostications are fairly safe. Jobs long ago said that PA Semi would be designing chips to power its mobile products, and if the A4 can get up to 10 hours of runtime for an iPad with its 9.7" LCD screen, it could likely give a big boost to the runtime for the iPhone in addition to snappy performance.
A 960 x 640 pixel display will help keep the iPhone in the running with some newer mobile devices with screen resolutions that exceed the current model's 480 x 320 display. The higher resolution also jibes with the "iPhone HD" moniker that Engadget sources suggest the new model will wear. The screen would still have the same 3:2 screen ratio with a doubling of pixel dimensions, meaning existing iPhone apps could easily be scaled to fit the new screen without much apparent difference in quality. However, apps updated for the higher resolution should look absolutely stunning.
The iPhone HD name may also refer to the camera hardware. Intel previously suggested that Apple would adopt a 5 megapixel OmniVision sensor that was effectively a drop-in replacement for the current iPhone's 3.2 megapixel sensor. The new sensor uses backside illumination for increased light sensitivity, but can also shoot HD video in 720p or 1080p HD resolution, trumping the current iPhone's limit of 640 x 480 SD video.
The front-facing camera has long been rumored as a hardware upgrade ever since the first iPhone launched in 2007. Such a camera would enable video calling or conferencing à la iChat AV or Skype. Several of the iPhone OS 3.2 betas contained resources necessary for video calling, and the feature may finally make an official appearance via a front-facing camera and iPhone OS 4.0. iPhone OS 4.0 is also expected to bring a "full-on solution" for running multiple third-party iPhone apps simultaneously.
Engadget's sources expect the new iPhone to launch on June 22. Daring Fireball suggests that date could be likely if WWDC is in early June. The new model would likely be announced during the WWDC keynote, giving developers a few weeks to update apps to take advantage of new features in time for its launch.
Despite what may prove to be a very compelling upgrade for current iPhone owners, what about those on non-GSM carriers? Apple has called CDMA a dead-end technology in the past, but an update to WSJ's report from yesterday about a likely Verizon-ready iPhone notes that Apple may have "changed its mind" given that LTE won't likely be widespread even on Verizon until sometime in 2011, and on AT&T until sometime in 2012 or later.
Several analysts expressed doubt that Apple would make the CDMA plunge this year, if at all. Sources for Morgan Keegan analyst Travis McCourt said that Qualcomm is working on a CDMA radio chip that could work with the iPhone, but that it won't be a dual mode CDMA-GSM chip that Apple wanted. Even if Apple could build a CDMA-capable iPhone, there's still the matter of Apple and Verizon being able to come to an agreement to provide service for the device. For instance, AT&T's $30 per month data plan includes unlimited data, while Verizon's similar plan for smartphones is capped at 5GB. Verizon would also have to implement the necessary back-end to support the iPhone's Visual Voicemail feature.
UBS analyst Maynard Um also agreed that a Verizon launch this year would be unlikely. However, both analysts suggested that a CDMA iPhone could launch with other carriers, especially those that have far less immediate plans to transition to 4G LTE. Possible alternate options include China Telecom (which doesn't used UTMS/HSPA for 3G), KDDI in Japan, SK Telecom in Korea, or even Sprint in the US.
Still, several metrics suggest that Google's Android platform is growing much faster than the iPhone, especially in the US, even though the iPhone has still outsold Android devices by a large margin. Part of the reason that Android is able to grow so fast is that it's available on multiple devices from multiple carriers. AT&T only has so many customers willing to go for the iPhone, and there are only so many willing to switch carriers to get one.
Our reader poll from Monday suggests that half of current Ars iPhone users would defect to Verizon if the iPhone was launched on that network, and plenty of current Verizon customers would be interested in an iPhone if it were available. A CDMA iPhone might not mean much for worldwide growth, given that there is still plenty of growth opportunity with GSM-based carriers. However, if Apple wants to maintain US smartphone market dominance, going CDMA might be the only option for the next few years.
Source: Arstechnica.com
