T-Mobile to get iPhone 5 as well, report says
After yesterday's report of Sprint planning to bring the iPhone to its network this fall, a new report says U.S. carrier T-Mobile plans on the same thing.
Just a day after a high-profile report that Sprint would be getting Apple's next iPhone, a new report claims T-Mobile USA will be getting it as well.
Citing "a contact within T-Mobile," Apple tracking blog MacTrast says the U.S. carrier will be getting a version of the iPhone 5 that will run on the company's 3G network sometime in "early to mid-October."
The move would be especially notable given that AT&T plans to buy T-Mobile USA off Deutsche Telekom as part of a $39 billion deal announced in late March. While that deal continues to face scrutiny, the end game is one large network, and one single company. If yesterday's report by The Wall Street Journal of Sprint getting the iPhone 5 comes to fruition, that would put the iPhone on all of the major U.S. carriers well ahead of that combination.
AT&T and T-Mobile use the same wireless technology, GSM, but two use different frequencies for 3G, leaving a person with an AT&T iPhone only able to receive service at the slower 2G speeds. A version of the iPhone that worked with T-Mobile's 3G signal would solve that problem.
A report by TechCrunch earlier this week claimed the next iPhone would support both GSM and CDMA technologies, allowing a single phone to work with carriers on either technology, suggesting Apple is working to expand the device's connectivity options.
Representatives at both Apple and T-Mobile did not respond to requests for comment.
Related links
• Sprint to sell iPhone 5 in October, report says
• iPhone 5 rumor roundup
• Apple store reportedly getting a 4G LTE hookup
MacTrast's report follows on the heels of one from Boy Genius Report in late-April claiming that T-Mobile USA was in the process of testing out iPhone 4 units on its 3G network, including a photo of the purported testing device. Going back a bit further, an incorrect report by the Cult of Mac in July of last year claimed T-Mobile USA would offer Apple's iPhone in the third quarter of 2010.
Of interest in this, is T-Mobile which started to sell Micro SIM cards last month. That's the same standard that's used in Apple's iPhone 4 and iPad devices. The company even positioned the cards as a way for iPhone or iPad users to hop onto its network.
Apple is expected to announce the next iPhone as soon as next month, with a release to follow in early October. More recent reports have also suggested that Apple plans to put out a lower cost version of the iPhone 4 to go alongside it.
Updated at 12:46 p.m. PT with information throughout, and once again at 2:34 p.m. PT to note a lack of comment from T-Mobile and Apple.