Redrawing the 4G Line: Is a "Fake" 4G Tagline Coming to the iPhone 5?

Reports indicate that iPhone users may be in for a colossal bait-and-switch with the iPhone 5, branding the next iPhone as a "4G" smartphone, due to its near-4G speeds, thanks to technologies like HSPA+. Read why Apple wouldn't dare.

For those who love fast, reliable, seamless data rates for their iPhones, the famed and fabled 4G network continues to represent the Holy Grail of cellular wireless standards. It also remains elusive; while top mobile network providers like AT&T and Verizon continue to promise a 4G future to their smartphone users, the path to getting to that future seems more like a continuous circle than a straight line.

Of the many open questions about the iPhone 5 is whether or not it will be Apple's first true 4G smartphone. Because mainstream adoption of true 4G still seems to be a way's away, the prevailing logic up until recently has been that 4G may be more realistic for the iPhone 6 in 2012, rather than for the iPhone 5 in late summer 2011. But a recent fascinating insight from 9to5mac.com suggests that AT&T might try to brand a supercharged 3G HSPA+ iPhone 5 as "4G," since the data rate would indeed peak within the 4G standards.

The article explains that AT&T has already started doing this with some of its other smartphone products that feature 14.4Mbps HSPA technology, deeming devices that run at 14.4Mbps as "4G." Because the iPhone5 is likely to feature the same Qualcomm chips as the other smartphones that AT&T is branding as 4G, "most industry watchers expect the next iPhone to run on some version of the Qualcomm chip that the Verizon has, which would let it do double radio duty and be operable on all US networks."

You can read the entire article here.

Trying to navigate 3G, HSDPA, HSPA+, and 4G can be thorny: evolved HSPA+ can pump out data rates that approach the low end of 4G, but in theory only: typically they operate at 14.4Mbps. However, ITU-R data rate requirements promise up to 1 Gbit/s for 4G systems, well above what AT&T seems comfortable as calling 4G.

So, what's the rush to call the iPhone 5 4G smartphone, even if it really isn't?

The answer is simple: money. Just as many in the tech world looked to Apple to launch the first mainstream tablet device, so too has the iPhone become a critical milemarker for 4G: once the iPhone officially becomes a 4G smartphone, that will in essence usher in the 4G era. And once this happens, Apple — and all of the rest of the smartphone manufacturers and network service providers — will be able to cash in on the investments they've already made in 4G technology. After all, everyone is waiting for it to arrive.

But given the gravity of Apple sticking the 4G sticker on its iPhone, is it likely that Steve Jobs would ever run the risk of classifying the iPhone 5 as "4G" if it is nothing more than an HSPA+ 3G device? Moreover, would Apple ever allow AT&T to refer to the iPhone 5 as possessing "4G speeds?"

AT&T may be able to get away with calling the 14.4Mbps-clocked HPalm Veer 4G, HTC Inspire 4G and  Motorola Atrix 4G smartphones as 4G, but branding the iPhone 5 as 4G is another matter indeed; if the iPhone 5 is called "4G," it better adhere to true 4G standards.

If you process all of the rumors and desired features for the iPhone 5g, one quickly comes to realize that the success of the next iPhone does not hinge on it being a true 4G phone. Take a quick gander at our ongoing poll on this blog's iPhone 5 Features page, and you'll see that 4G capabilities are behind other desired features, such as a larger screen, better battery, and 8 megapixel camera.

Furthermore, we also know that Steve Jobs takes a slow, steady, measured pace when it comes to adopting new standards and technologies for the iPhone. This is why Flash is still a no-show on the iPhone (which, ironically, comes in just behind 4G in our poll).

The bottom line is this: if the iPhone 5 gets branded as a 4G smartphone without truly qualifying for 4G speeds, the tech media will dime out Apple en masse. Similar to doing a simple refresh and/or naming the next iPhone the "iPhone 4s," calling it a 4G when it is in fact a beefed up 3G will be a critical marketing mistake for Apple, since iPhone users' collective tech I.Q. is too high to be that easily fooled.

And because Apple and Stev e Jobs knows this, you can rest assured that the iPhone 5 won't be 4G unless it really is 4G.