LTE / 4G iPhone Leaked, Korean Operator Talks CDMA Model - Reports

According to a couple of recently emerged reports, Apple is in talks with LG Uplus of Korea to ship a CDMA-capable iPhone in the territory, while Verizon may be on track to finally support a 4G (LTE) version of the handset.

The Korea Herald reports that LG Uplus Corp. said it was in talks with Apple to offer the CDMA iPhone in the domestic market. LG Uplus is known to be the smallest wireless operator in the country.

Reportedly, the carrier is “negotiating about a change to the electronic circuits to make CDMA iPhones for the company,” according to the Korean paper which quotes senior vice president Choi Joo-sick.

The report goes to say that the confirmation was made during a conference call, now available on the LG Uplus official website.

It adds that the wireless services provider accounts for 17.9 percent of Korea’s wireless market, while its bigger rival, SK Telecom Co., holds a substantial 50.7 percent. KT Corp., the actual distributor of Apple’s iPhone in the territory, accounts for 31.4 percent, The Korea Herald notes, citing government data.

A separate report by todaysiphone.com claims that Apple’s iPhone is also going to support the LTE networking standard, also known as 4G, through Verizon.

The site posts a picture of an Apple iPhone 4 displaying Verizon as the carrier, and “LTE” as the chosen networking protocol in the top left corner of the screen.

While the image does seem to be legit (as in, not photoshopped), readers have suggested that the handset could be a jailbroken one, therefore the top banner text could easily be changed with apps like MakeItMine.

Also noteworthy is that the frame of the device appears to be dark colored, although it may just be the result of bad lighting.

The source reports that it asked the tipster where the photo came from, but couldn’t get a straight answer.

The tipster did mention, however, that the MacBook in the background belongs to a Verizon engineer in the Pacific Northwest region, and that the respective iPhone was running iOS 4.2 at the time the picture was taken.