iPhone 5 Release Date: iPhone 5 WILL Launch in 2012, Say Experts

By CP News Briefs, Sunday, October 09, 2011

Many Apple fans were left disappointed by the “Let’s Talk iPhone” event earlier this week when rather than a totally new iPhone that would change the world of smartphones again, they instead got a revamped iPhone 4 in the form of an iPhone 4S.

However, Apple lovers should not allow disappointment to consume them for too long; analysts are now expecting a super fast state-of-the-art 4G LTE iPhone 5 to be released some time in 2012.

Will Strauss, president of market research firm Forward Concepts has told CNET: “Apple is saving the iPhone 5 brand for the LTE version, and the new model won't arrive until the 4G LTE technology is ready to be used in smartphones, which won't be out until next spring.”

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Strauss believes that the use of LTE technology being implemented by smartphones such as the HTC Thunderbolt is premature and not to the high standards that Apple prides itself on.

There were reports that Apple was not satisfied with the first generation of LTE chipsets from Qualcomm as they would make the phones bulkier. New Apple CEO Tim Cook is not willing to compromise the design of the iPhone by prematurely implementing the technology.

According to a chip expert Anand Shimpi of Anandtech, iPhone 4's printed circuit board is not of sufficient size to carry an extra chip to enable LTE without shrinking the size of the battery.

Shimpi said a Qualcomm chip called the MDM9615, which will be capable of LTE voice and data that would fit Apple's phone specifications, is likely to come out in the second quarter of 2012.

Wedbush Securities analyst Scott Sutherland also believes 2012 will be a landmark year for Apple; he believes both a 4G iPhone 5, as well as the new iPad 3 will arrive next year.

Jefferies analyst Peter Misek also expects an iPad 3 launch in calendar first quarter and an LTE iPhone in the first half of calendar 2012.