14 DAY TRIAL // Following a long series of rumors regarding the upcoming emergence of an iPhone model with support for LTE connectivity
, some more solid proof on the matter started to emerge.
Apparently, a series of beta builds of Apple's iOS 5 include 4G Long-Term Evolution testing code, which clearly points at the upcoming availability of the said handset model.
Rumors on the upcoming availability of a new iPhone model with support for the next-generation 4G connectivity have been floating around the Internet for over a year now, but they started to gain more substance only lately.
The handset should arrive in the United States on the airwaves of both AT&T and Verizon, rumor has it.
Not too long ago, the LTE iPhone 5 was said to have already begun carrier testing, which already suggested that the release date might be near.
Moreover, since the 4G Long-Term Evolution testing code was found once again in the said beta builds of the next mobile OS from Apple, we can assume that the launch day is indeed close.
The next iPhone model is expected to arrive on shelves at both AT&T and Verizon this fall, and previous reports confirmed that both wireless carriers were expecting the device in September or October.
However, it is possible that the iPhone model set to hit shelves in about a month and a half from now is not the LTE-capable device many are waiting for.
This handset is expected to arrive on shelves only in early 2012, though that does not exclude the possibility that Apple might have accelerated its release for the fall of 2011.
With both AT&T and Verizon having LTE networks in place in fall, it would not come too much as a surprise if Apple actually decided to release the 4G-capable iPhone faster than initially planned.
What remains to be seen is whether the device will indeed be released in a matter of weeks, and whether it would actually include global connectivity capabilities as previously rumored.