Apple didn't announce an iPhone 5 today. All those rumor sites showing teardrop designs and 4-inch screens were wrong! But the iPhone 4S contains some pretty slick enhancements, so I'm actually not that disappointed. A dual-core processor with that level of gaming prowess, an improved 8-megapixel camera, and 1080p HD recording in such a tiny phone is a force to be reckoned with, even when stacked against Android smartphones with larger 4.3-inch screens and QWERTY keyboards.
The iPhone 4S's lack of true 4G is more serious, but also expected. Granted, there's HSPA+ 14.4 support, which is what AT&T calls 4G, but the rest of us don't. Some T-Mobile phones can achieve 4G-like performance with HSPA+ 21, with real-world download speeds approaching 5 megabits per second (Mbps). But 14.4, with average speeds around 1.5 or 2Mbps, is closer to 3G than it is to true 4G phones like on Verizon, which support next-generation LTE data networks and can easily average 10Mbps down on a bad day. And Verizon and Sprint versions of the iPhone 4S won't even see that; they'll be stuck on current EV-DO Rev. A networks in the U.S. just like the iPhone 4, averaging 1Mbps down or less.
Notably, and to its credit, Apple is not calling the iPhone 4S a 4G phone. Take heed, AT&T: you're going to look pretty silly if you tack a 4G label on the iPhone 4S, the way you already do—incorrectly—with the HTC Inspire 4G, the Huawei Impulse 4G, the Motorola Atrix 4G, and other AT&T-phones-that-really-aren't-4G.
What Makes Apple Tick
Apple innovates partially by design, and partially by packaging. It has created its own CPU line, and it appears to have done some groundbreaking work with the iPhone 4S's upgraded dual-antenna and the five-element camera lens. In fact, the iPhone 4S now qualifies as a true world phone, since it contains both CDMA and GSM radios. But for Apple to make its own 4G LTE radio, it would have to rely heavily on the wireless carriers that are building out 4G networks. And when it comes to Apple's priorities, the technology simply isn't there yet, for several reasons:
Size. True 4G radio components would have significantly added to the thickness of the iPhone 4S's design—possibly even making it thicker than the original iPhone from 2007, judging by the size of recent HTC Thunderbolts and Samsung Droid Charges.
Endurance. A true 4G iPhone, designed with today's technology, would have sucked down too much battery life, and would have netted a big decrease in endurance instead of an increase. We hear about this problem on a regular basis from Android users. And we see it in our reviews, where a 4G Android phone may offer a solid seven hours of continuous talk time in a battery test, but left on its own in standby mode first thing in the morning, it could be completely drained by mid-afternoon because of the 4G radio.
Pragmatism. Apple likely also made a judgment call here, as well as a technological decision: if the major U.S. carriers are capping download limits at 2GB per month, and a solid 4G connection can burn through that in under an hour, who is really going to take advantage of it, when they can just find a Wi-Fi hotspot and achieve blistering speeds there instead? The overage charges are frightening.
This is Nothing New
This philosophy was already there with earlier models, back when the first-generation version was criticized for having just 2G (EDGE) when 3G phones were already common (although I think that was a more serious omission than the lack of 4G is now). Remember, this is a company that has stayed with the same 3.5-inch screen size on its phone for five successive generations, with no other alternatives, and just two screen resolutions over the same period. Apple likes to decide on the perfect one-size-fits-all specification and then stick with it for as long as possible.
I'm sure we'll see a true 4G iPhone some day. But for now, as much as I love 4G's data speeds, it's simply not there yet in a way that Apple could package properly. And an iPhone that looks and feels like a small brick simply isn't consistent with the company's design language.
For more from Jamie, follow him on Twitter @jlendino.