Next iPhone likely to be faster
By Michael W. Jones
When the next iPhone version is released, it seems likely that it will feature something that users have been clamoring for: faster 3G data transmission speeds.
Although the present spreed is not to be scoffed at, users of high-tech devices always want them to be faster. That includes the current generation iPhone. If that is your wish, it may come true very quickly. Rumor has it that the next iteration of the iPhone hardware will be out quite soon, perhaps as soon as June. Further rumors make it fairly clear that new phone, running the new iPhone OS 3.0, will also feature faster 3G speeds.
It is most likely that the new 3G data transmission speed will be either 7.2Mbps or 14.4Mbps HSPA, both current standards and both available readily on standard chipsets. There are a number of smartphones that already use these faster standards, according to an ars technica story. The new iPhone could even be boosted to faster or slower speeds not supported by these standards, such as LTE.
There is even a middle option, using HSPA chips, which might be considered most likely. The 14.4Mbps chipset will also handle the 7.2Mbps speed, being backwards compatible. It could be that the new iPhone will come out of the chute running that 7.2Mbps speed on a 14.4MBPS chipset while AT&T works to upgrade its system to handle the faster speed. The AT&T network has already been tested to 7.2Mbps HSPA. Even at the lower of the two HSPA speeds, the iPhone would still be more than twice as fast as it is now.
Another likely guess is driven by the new operating system. Any new OS carries with it additional capabilities and overhead, one of the forces which has driven processor speeds up so rapidly in the PC marketplace. More complex operating system lead to more complex applications, both of which require more processor speed and memory to run efficiently. So we may see a new iPhone as soon as June with faster 3G speeds and a faster processor to boot.
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