Carriers Testing LTE-Enabled iPhone?

BGR reports that Apple appears to already be testing a 4G LTE-enabled iPhone with carriers, as evidenced by a special internal carrier test build of iOS carrying a property list file for LTE compatibility.

While we can’t confirm that the upcoming fifth-generation iPhone will be able to support 4G LTE, we can now exclusively confirm that Apple’s carrier partners are testing iPhone models with LTE capability. BGR has obtained evidence of an internal iOS test build from one of Apple’s major carrier partners, and buried in the firmware is a property list (.plist file) for LTE.

The iPhone 5 is expected to support HSPA+ technology for GSM networks, which is being marketed by many carriers as "4G", but carriers are also beginning their rollouts of 4G LTE networks that will bring even faster data speeds. Apple has indicated, however, that it has been reluctant to adopt LTE technology so far due to a lack of appropriate chipsets, with size, power and other issues forcing design compromises that Apple has been unwilling to make. LTE chips suitable for Apple's needs are reportedly set to debut in early 2012.

iphone lte plist bgr
It should come as no surprise that Apple has been testing LTE technology for the iPhone as it seeks to find the proper time to deploy the functionality. Apple has notably been conservative in adopting the latest cellular technology standards, as evidenced by the original iPhone debuting with only EDGE capabilities when a number of carriers had already begun building out their 3G networks.

Tag: BGR
Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

M5 Chip Achieves Impressive Feat in 14-Inch MacBook Pro Speed Test

Friday October 17, 2025 7:10 am PDT by
The first alleged benchmark result for the M5 chip in the new 14-inch MacBook Pro has surfaced, allowing for some performance comparisons. Based on a single unconfirmed result uploaded to the Geekbench 6 database today, the M5 chip has pulled off an impressive feat. Specifically, the chip achieved a score of 4,263 for single-core CPU performance, which is the highest single-core score that...

Top Rated Comments

gibbz Avatar
185 months ago
I would bet on iPhone 6. Given Apple's demands for battery life, it doesn't seem likely right now.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goobot Avatar
185 months ago
I would be fine as long as the iPhone 5 had HSPA+. It is a pretty good jump from 3g and i don't expect LTE to be really anywhere any time soon.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lifeinhd Avatar
185 months ago
I've been testing an LTE device for work-- the LG Revolution. I understand completely why Apple is reluctant to adopt the technology. The phone is a piece of crap. I take it off the charger at 8 AM, the battery is dead by 1 PM with very light use. The phone is enormous, and thicker than the original iPad. LTE isn't available everywhere, so a lot of the time the phone is on 3G anyways. And finally, the phone can't smoothly transition from 4G->3G or 3G->4G; there's a small period where the phone will actually drop the connection for a second and pages will refuse to load.

I won't be complaining in the slightest if Apple holds out til 2012 for LTE.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Biolizard Avatar
185 months ago
Before any LTE-fanboys suddenly soil their underwear in the manner which is normally restricted to 2am in the morning, huddled over your MBP (contents of screen shall not be discussed) hoping your parents are fast asleep...

As we've seen from the 3G-MBP, Apple tests lots of stuff, and not all of it makes it to production, or at least not necessarily that quickly. This in no way 'proves' that iPhone 5 will have LTE. It's evidence for it, but given Apple's stance on what are currently very power consuming chips, IMO iPhone 6 is the more likely contender.

What it does show is that Apple's research team are doing the sensible, and tbh expected, thing of trying to work out how best to get LTE technology into a phone in such a way that its inclusion is acceptable to the top brass. The iPhone and iPad were under development for years and only saw the light of day when Steve thought they were ready. LTE will come, but not necessarily right away.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lochias Avatar
185 months ago
HW, code, and carrier testing

Hardware support of LTE != Carrier testing. Code is needed to support any hardware, even if it were just a bunch of parts on a circuit board.


What am I missing? The starting point here is the report of "testing a 4G LTE-enabled iPhone with carriers" and "evidence of an internal iOS test build ... buried in the firmware."

LTR-enabled iPhone + internal iOS test build == hardware and code.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DMVillain Avatar
185 months ago
Speculation

I could be wrong, but isn't the fact that the carriers are testing it, not just apple, prove that it is more imminent than we suspected?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)