CDMA iPhone might have already hit an early prototype stage

Hot on the heels of the rumors that Apple has placed a big order for CDMA baseband chips with Qualcomm, and has Pegatron Technologies lined up for production, another one comes to feed one of the most resilient beliefs in the US smartphone market. John Gruber from Daring Fireball said yesterday “I do know that engineering-wise, the wheels are turning on N92, the CDMA variant of the iPhone 4... ”. He goes on to explain that the device is in one of the earliest prototype stages – the EVT (engineering verification test), which is focused on examining for major design flaws.

Considering that Apple has an exclusivity agreement with AT&T until 2012, it has to be willing to swallow the penalties for rushing the iPhone on Verizon or Sprint a year before the contract is out. It might very well be a version for China Telecom, the author says, which has a CDMA network and has expressed interest in having the CDMA iPhone 4. China is a huge market with burgeoning middle class, where Apple hasn't properly set foot yet, and just last month it opened a flagship store in Shanghai. This way they can test it out for a year before they announce a Verizon iPhone, which might be LTE anyway, given the fact Big Red's 4G network will be completely rolled out by then.

Apple iPhone 4 Specifications | Review

source: DaringFireball via IntoMobile