"BGR has obtained evidence of an internal iOS test build from one of Apple's major carrier partners, and buried in the firmware is a property list (.plist file) for LTE," wrote BGR's Jonathan Geller.
But before you get too excited, even Geller notes that this does not mean the next-generation iPhone, expected to arrive in September or October, will be able to run on Verizon's blazingly fast LTE network or AT&T's upcoming LTE network. In fact, PC Mag mobile analyst Sascha Segan is certain the so-called iPhone 5 won't have 4G LTE support.
"Apple has always prioritized slim elegance over network speed, and the company is definitely concerned about battery life. Sticking with a high-speed HSPA network rather than nascent LTE lets Apple keep its phone slender and running all day," Segan writes. The slimmer, single-chip LTE solutions that come from Qualcomm won't be out until the third or fourth quarter of next year, he says.
Of course, Apple hasn't so much as peeped about a new iPhone, but from everyone from Wall Street to Chengdu, China (home of an iPhone-making Foxconn plant) is speculating. According to PCMag's most updated roundup of "iPhone 5" rumors, it will have fully integrated voice control; a "baby iPhone" for emerging markets; a "radical" new shape; an iPod-like curved glass display; an edge-to-edge screen. Check out "8 Likely iPhone 5 Rumors, and 2 Wild Ones for more.
And it sounds like Apple CEO Steve Jobs doesn't share much with his carrier partners anyway. Verizon CFO Fran Shammo recently admitted that he expected the iPhone 5 to arrive at Apple's WWDC event in June, but he's still betting on a release date sometime in the fall. AT&T has reportedly barred employees from taking time off during the last two weeks of September, which some took to mean that the carrier would need all hands on deck for the iPhone 5 release. ATD, however, said those reports are "misinformed."
For more iPhone 5 speculation, check out our eight favorite mockups in "What the iPhone 5 Might Look Like" and Six Amazing Phone Technologies We Want in iPhone 5."