Verizon “Confident” that Apple will Release LTE Device

Apple’s not one to hop on the bandwagon when it comes to new tech that isn’t fully developed (though the latest MacBooks beg to differ), but Verizon is hopeful that Apple will release an LTE-capable device at some vague point in the future. The iPhone lagged behind during the rush to 3G, but the 4G smartphone market is far from saturated. Pumping out an LTE device before it’s “old news” could boost sales for both Apple and Verizon.

AT&T is still tinkering with its LTE network, but its pseudo-4G HSPA+ network is currently ready. Apple generally doesn’t fancy releasing mis-matched products, but it’s possible that the iPhone 5 will feature 4G on Big Red and “4G” on AT&T—to keep things even.

You’ll see more coming from Apple on LTE. They understand the value proposition of LTE and I feel very confident that they are going to be a part of it.

It’s been rumored that the iPad 2 being announced next week is just an interim product, and will be updated again mid-2011—the perfect time to beef it up with 4G goodness. If one Apple product features 4G, it’s guaranteed that the others will follow suit.

[WSJ via Engadget]

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