Apple CEO Wants an iPhone with LTE Available Soon

Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, reportedly would like his company to release a smartphone with the 4G wireless technology LTE as soon as possible.

This information comes from the Chairman of China Mobile Communications, Wang Jianzhou, who said, "Jobs has expressed his interest in an LTE iPhone, and is willing to start the development at an early date."

The iPhone 5 Could Be 4G
Jianzhou's comment raises the possibility that Apple's next smartphone will include LTE, something that many have been speculating about for some time.

The only two U.S. carriers who currently offer the iPhone are Verizon and AT&T. Verizon already has an LTE network up and running, and AT&T is scheduled to have one online this summer.

Apple has a long-held habit of releasing its new smartphones in early summer, so it's possible that when the iPhone 5 is introduced, it will be able to connect to these new 4G networks.

On the other hand, if Jianzhou is correct and Apple is going to "start the development" of a 4G-compatible model in the near future, then it could be too late for the device to debut this summer. Customers may have to wait for the iPhone 6 to get LTE support.  

More about LTE
The 4G cellular-wireless standard picked by both AT&T and Verizon offers considerably faster wireless data transfers than their 3G networks.

Verizon's LTE network offers data transfer speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps for downloads and 2 to 5 Mbps upload speeds under real world conditions. For comparison, tests on this carrier's 3G network gave download speeds of 0.6 to 1.6 Mbps and upload speeds of 0.5 to 0.8 Mbps. 

Source