Apple wants the FCC to keep quiet on iPhone 4

It's because the iphone 4 has a slither of Steve Job's soul hidden in it so that he can't die. You know the new horcrux chip that he had embedded in every phone.

Whenever I hear someone say "CDMA is dead" I totally disregard their comments. They obviously don't know what's going on.

CDMA2000 1X and EV-DO is growing, although not as quickly as UMTS and HSPA+, but nevertheless its growing across the globe (not just in the U.S.). Unlike other technologies such as GSM, GPRS, EDGE, iDEN, WiMAX, etc., new CDMA networks are being deployed and more people are subscribing to the technology. Last year, 18 new operators launched CDMA2000 networks, many of which were in GSM countries (e.g. Europe). There are now more than 300 CDMA networks worldwide, and more than a half a billion subscribers. The number of CDMA subscribers is expected to reach 830M by 2015, and most of these people, 630M will be using EV-DO devices.

Bottom line: Apple will not have any problem selling their iPhone to these people. That's why they are making a CDMA-based iPhone. Their brand image has been damaged enough with AT&T's capacity-constrained HSPA network. The iPhone will scream on an EV-DO network and eventually on an EV-DO/LTE network... ala Verizon, China Telecom, Tata, KDDI, etc.

June 4th filing? And you really think there's something new?

CDMA compatible? I doubt it...

Schematics and user manuals? Maybe the public fact that the antenna is now part of the band wrapped around the phone? How about the schematics of that?

It's a great design (and hopefully it improves my current service) and I would think it would be something they would want to keep under wrap for a little while...

I suspect something less glorious.

I don't believe it is a secret feature, I think it is something about what it is doing all the time that Apple doesn't ever want us to know about.

Something more akin to logging/monitoring etc. etc.

Good news wouldn't "harm the company." The whole iPhone/Gizmodo leak for example did nothing but generate even more hype to possibly the biggest selling iPhone ever.

1) On-topic comment: Looks like boiler-plate form letter to me. I suspect that Apple, as well as any other device manufacturer that has to get approval from the FCC, sends a similar letter for every device they send to the FCC.

2) Off-topic comment: Wow! Two wrong statements in one paragraph:
a) "CDMA networks will be shut off in less than three years."

I have only 2 thoughts on why that's wrong: time and money.

When CDMA is discussed in this forum, it's generally interchangable with Verizon Wireless. Think about an average Verizon Wireless user. They have a device, call it a smartphone or whatever. They are likely to make a phone call with that device. What network will they be using? LTE? Where? Downtown LA or the middle-of-nowhere-on-I-90 in Wyoming? [For the geographically illinformed, take a peek on Google Maps and then compare population densities of US counties.] It takes a lot of capital to provide a nation-wide network coverage footprint (as opposed to hotspot coverage), and it will take a lot of time to raise that capital and roll-out that coverage.

I wouldn't expect them to switch off the CDMA network for at least 5 years, if then, and only when they have a usable voice replacement on LTE.

(Thought a': if you replace "CDMA" with "GSM," does it still make sense? Isn't it the same problem there?)

b) "CDMA networks affect only people in the U.S."

*BUZZ* Oh, sorry, I think not. According to the CDMA Development Group (CDG), there are [as of 21 MAY 2010] 311 operators in 119 countries/territories with over 522M subscribers. [see http://www.cdg.org/resources/cdma_stats.asp]. Whether I believe their numbers is one thing, but it's certainly not as US centric as you are led to believe.

I bet it supports the 1700 MHz band now. :)

Let's assume that AT&T's exclusivity was coming to an end. Would Apple make a CDMA version? Of course. There's a huge market for a Verizon iPhone - even if CDMA will be dead in a couple years, there's still a couple years to sell the phones (if it's pointless, why are so many others still releasing CDMA phones?)

Now, if Apple is under contract with AT&T to keep details of exclusivity a secret until a certain date then Apple would be legally bound to file this type of letter with the FCC to show due diligence. If they failed to do this and the FCC leaked CDMA info, Apple could be legally liable for AT&T damages, which could be a big financial deal (especially when compared with the negligible cost of filing the letter); I know of at least two iPhone 4s that would not have been ordered if this information had been leaked - and that's just my own house. On the other hand since Apple filed this letter, even if the FCC ended up leaking CDMA info, Apple would not be legally liable since they did their due diligence in attempting to maintain secrecy.

Of course, this all could be moot, considering what other comments have already pointed out - that this was filed prior to the keynote. But I guess we'll just have to wait to find out for sure; rumors will of course rage until the FCC info is fully disclosed... and then after details are disclosed the rumors will still rage anyway. Because there's a market for a Verizon iPhone.

Also, regarding CDMA going away in 3 years.. who cares? How many people buy a new phone each year? How many iphone users buy the latest version each year? If not every year... every 2 years? A LOT. So 3 years from now, the "4G" (unfortunate name) iphone for Verizon will be upgrade anyways. People bitch about ATT and want Verizon but now that rumor has surfaced again, people are bitching about Verizon. Poor fellas.

@Tallest Runt you can talk and surf at the same time on Verizon. I do it all the time w/Droid.

It's a flying car! MOOF!!!