Developer: iPhone 5 Is a 'World Phone'

Logs obtained by a developer whose software has been tested against new iPhone hardware indicate that Apple is making the iPhone 5 a “world phone,” supporting multiple carrier standards.

According to the developer, who asked not to be named, a small number of people have recently registered for one of the dev’s applications “from a single, brand new Apple device that is decidedly dual-mode.”

In other words, the phone supports both CDMA and GSM cellular standards.

Specifically, the logs show that the app has been tested using what is “almost certainly” Apple’s next-generation iPhone 5.

The device ran iOS 5 and reportedly showed two distinct sets of mobile network codes (MNC) / mobile country codes (MCC).

According to the report, those codes can be used to identify mobile carriers uniquely.

Some registrations for the app were logged from this new Apple device using the MNC/MCC codes from both Verizon and AT&T, according to the developer.

It is really only a matter of common sense to have the iPhone 5 catering to both AT&T and Verizon since Apple has already shown interest in both.

The move to a world-phone would also open the door to other operators outside the U.S.

With rumors that Qualcomm will replace Intel’s baseband chip in the iPhone 5, while Qualcomm already provides the baseband to the CDMA version of the iPhone 4, everything seems to fall into place for a “global” iPhone 5 this autumn.

There have also been rumors that Apple’s iPhone 5 will be a 4G device. Labeled LTE - long term evolution - this standard would not be part of the ‘global’ chip expected to make its way inside the iPhone 5.

There is little evidence that this will be the case with the upcoming iPhone, but some still see it as a possibility. However, all signs point to a 2012 implementation in the iPhone hardware.