Image credit: flickr/woodleywonderworks
(You can read an update to this column along with more on the rumored Apple tablet and Verizon's 4G deployment by clicking here.)
The rumors continue to swirl around the Apple tablet. One of the juiciest is that the forthcoming Apple tablet will eschew 3G and go directly to fast 4G wireless connectivity.
Including 4G in an Apple tablet makes sense—especially in view of the promise that 4G offers in supporting faster bandwidths. Reports have indicated that early tests of LTE (Long Term Evolution) 4G by Verizon have yielded bandwidths of up to 60 Mbps.
Although these are only rumors, in many ways they make great sense. If Apple is to offer a tablet why not use the next generation in cellular technology, 4G?
According to TechCrunch, “there is definitely some credibility to this Apple/Verizon tablet talks, because such a partnership could work while the Apple/AT&T exclusive iPhone pact is still in place…The reason is that this tablet will apparently not have a microphone, so in other words, it cannot do voice calls, which puts it outside of the Apple/AT&T agreement.”
So does Apple stay with AT&T for the iPhone and use Verizon for the Apple tablet? Or do they jump completely from the AT&T ship for both the Apple tablet and the next generation iPhone? The answer probably resides in the timing.
AT&T is not expected to launch their LTE network until sometime in 2011. That makes AT&T appear to be the laggard in terms of 4G deployment. With a 2010 expected launch date, Verizon could well be an entire year ahead of AT&T making their 4G launch coincide with the anticipated release date of the Apple tablet. This timing also coincides with the rumored end of Apple's contractual arrangement with AT&T.
To add a bit more fuel to the fire, TechCrunch offers an interesting observation about the reportedly tenuous relationship between Apple and AT&T. “Our source went on to note that Apple and Verizon doing some kind of business seems inevitable. They reiterated claims — which we’ve heard from several other sources — that the folks inside Apple are not happy with AT&T at all right now given the spotty service, and seeming inability to handle the iPhone’s rapid growth.”
I've heard similar things. Some business users in San Francisco in have repeatedly complained about AT&T’s spotty coverage while using their iPhones in the City. I personally experienced one major dead spot with my iPhone 3G while riding on the bus in the Mission District. If I didn’t get my e-mails out by the time the bus reached Guerrero Street, I was doomed to wait out a rather large AT&T dead zone until well past Duboce Park before AT&T was once again my friend. One business user I know dumped his iPhone 3GS for a Palm Pre not because the Pre was necessarily better, but because he reported that Sprint’s 3G coverage was so much better than AT&T in San Francisco.
Apple is going to want to have ubiquitous coverage with the Apple tablet—and if Verizon can supply that with LTE 4G, then so much the better.
Comments
The dates for the 4G LTE technology that Verizon and AT&T plan to introduce are quite optimistic. I think there will be a one to two year dely before we see anything usable, and another year to two years before it is deployed in enough volume in the Bay Area to be usable.
The only 4G technology being deployed today in the U.S. is the Sprint/Clearwire WiMAX, which is availablel in three cities. Even WiMAX is a year or two away from being broadly available in the Bay Area.
I don't think that 4G is nearly close enough for Apple to include it in their 2010 product plans.
That's a good point, Bob. The carriers (and sometimes we users) tend to get overly ambitious about dates for rollouts of this nature. 3G isn't ubiquitously deployed yet, so I suspect that, as you stated, it could take some time for 4G to establish a reasonable deployment.
On the other hand, these kinds of technical barriers do not necessarily phase Apple. It would be no surprise to see them include 4G in the tablet but provide backward compatibility to 3G and perhaps 2G. How they could do that with Verizon's current CDMA network is a big question, however, since all Apple devices currently use GSM.
Jeff
The main thing is that AT&T needs to see Apple working with Verizon. Consumers win!
While the coverage in DC is fine and possibly better them Verizon, I was surprised at how bad the AT&T coverage in SF was. Something has to give.
Of course it would make sense for Apple to release an LTE tablet right now, but Apple can't release an LTE tablet without an LTE chipset. There won't be one for many more months.
It would be crazy for Apple to go with Verizon. Although the performance is better, all of us iPhone users who are locked into AT&T are going to be angry that we can't get both gadgets on our single account. Hopefully the tablet will be available on AT&T and Verizon.
Paul,
You raised an excellent point. What would happen to current iPhone 3G/3GS users who are locked into long term AT&T contracts should Apple go with Verizon for their new 4G devices?
The exclusivity agreement that Apple has is between them and AT&T, not between users and AT&T. So, as you pointed out, I suspect that the new iPhone version (and/or Apple tablet)would be on the Verizon network while the current versions would remain on AT&T's network. That creates a situation where users now need multiple carrier contracts for new and old Apple devices. That could indeed be an issue for users.
Thanks for pointing this out.
Jeff
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