Next iPhone won’t be LTE? AT&T’s first LTE phone won’t arrive until late 2011

By Mike Dunn August 11, 2011

There has been a long-time rumor about the next-generation iPhone being an LTE device, but AT&T’s latest announcement might have finally squashed that rumor. Pete Ritcher, senior VP AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, talked about AT&T’s plan for rolling out its 4G LTE network on Wednesday. Ritcher stated that the first LTE handset will come out closer to the end of the year.

Even though the LTE network should be launched any day now in five select markets, there won’t be a phone coming out soon with LTE connectivity. The very first devices will be USB data sticks, and there is also a rumored LTE tablet coming soon. Ritcher says AT&T is taking its time with handsets on purpose. The company claims it wants battery life to improve on LTE handsets before releasing one. The biggest knock currently on Verizon’s LTE phones is their battery life, so this explanation makes sense.

Ritcher went on to say that by the end of the year AT&T plans to have LTE active in 15 markets. With an initial launch of just five markets, that is a pretty big jump in just a couple of months. AT&T will focus on core markets first, and roll out the service on a market-by-market basis.

As we teased at the start of this article, the most (or least) exciting bit about this announcement may be what Ritcher didn’t bring up. With the launch of the next generation of iPhone rumored to be either in September or October, it looks as though that the next iPhone won’t be an LTE device, or at least it won’t be on AT&T. This might not be a surprise for some people, but it was still nice to hold out hope.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Mike graduated from University of Arizona with a degree in poetry, and made his big break by writing love sonnets to the…

Mobile

Best refurbished iPhone deals: Get an iPhone 14 for $513

An iPhone 13 in white color option.

The Apple iPhone is one of the best phones on the market, and because of it they don’t often come cheap. There are some great iPhone deals out there, but it’s rare to find significant discounts on newer models without having to commit to a longterm contract with a carrier, and it’s even less frequent you come across one of the best iPhones with a major price drop. This is where shopping refurbished can come in handy. Refurbished iPhones — for the most part — will come backed with a functionality guarantee or extended return window, making refurbished iPhones as safe of a purchase as shopping new. There are a lot of refurbished iPhone models seeing great price drops right now, which is why we’ve done the heavy lifting of rounding up all of the best refurbished iPhone deals. You’ll find them below, as well as some information on which refurbished iPhone might be best for you.
iPhone XR -- from $136

A refurbished model but one that's unlocked and comes with a full one-year warranty, the Apple iPhone XR is still pretty stylish for its age. It has a large 6.1-inch LCD screen with 1,792 x 828 resolution with Liquid Retina technology ensuring it looks super sharp. Powered by the A12 Bionic chip, it's starting to show its age but still has potential. There's also a 12MP back camera that can shoot 4K videos while the front-facing camera is 7MP and ideal for selfie-taking.

Mobile

Nomad’s new iPhone case and Apple Watch band may be its coolest yet

Nomad Glow 2.0 Sport Case and Apple Watch Sport Band in daylight.

Though the world of Apple accessories is a dime a dozen, one of the better brands that you can buy is Nomad. Nomad has a variety of amazing leather Apple Watch bands and cases, as well as non-leather options, too. In August 2023, Nomad released a one-of-a-kind Glow in the Dark Apple Watch band that sold out in about 12 hours.

Since that Glow in the Dark band was a limited edition, no one was sure if Nomad was going to re-release it, and this explains the high resale prices you’ll find on eBay. But Nomad just released the Glow 2.0 Apple Watch Sport Band as well as a new Glow 2.0 Sport Case for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. And, yes, they're just as wonderful as before.
The new and improved Glow 2.0

Mobile

Best iPhone deals: Save on iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Pro Max and more

iPhone 13 Pro in blue.

The Apple iPhone is likely the most popular smartphone of all time, and even older models are still seeing impressive sales. This popularity can make it difficult to find iPhone deals, but there are quite a few hanging around out there right now and some of them could be considered among the best phone deals currently taking place. And while you can always shop refurbished iPhone deals to ensure some savings, we think we’ve found some iPhone deals worth taking a look at right now. They include the newest model iPhone 15, so whether you’re looking for the latest and greatest or an iPhone that simply gets the job done, read onward and start shopping the best iPhone deals going on right now.
iPhone 15 128GB (AT&T) — $730, was $830 (plus up to $700 off w/ trade-in)

The Apple iPhone 15 finally brings with it Dynamic Island which we’ve only previously seen on the Pro range. It’s a real game changer at times and is very convenient. Alongside that, the Apple iPhone 15 has the Ceramic Shield front to keep it more protected while its 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR display promises to be up to two times brighter than the iPhone 14 in the sun. There’s also a 48MP main camera with 2x telephoto lens to help you take great shots. The A16 Bionic chip has plenty of processing power to aid with software adjustments.