Rumor: Apple field testing revised iPhone 4

With all of the hoopla about the alleged Verizon iPhone now being stirred up by such illustrious sources as the Wall Street Journal, it's surprising that we haven't seen much physical proof of the device turning up. Usually there are a few good leaked photos, devices are left in bars, and excited engineers spilling the beans to blogger friends.

Boy Genius Report (BGR) is quoting a "solid Apple source" as saying that iPhone model 3,2 is ready for field testing. This is widely expected to be the CDMA version of the iPhone 4, and has reached the last testing stage ("AP") before retail release with finalized hardware and software that just needs minimal tweaking.

The identifier 3,2 refers to a revised iPhone 4, as iPhone model 3,1 is the current iPhone 4. BGR's source stated that the new iPhone contains a SIM card, which indicates that the phone can run on GSM standard systems. Rumors earlier this month implied that the Verizon iPhone could use a dual-mode baseband chip from Qualcomm that would enable it to run on both CDMA and GSM networks. There's also speculation in the BGR post that the new model could include a fix for the "antennagate" issue.

The site is also saying that the iPhone 5 (model 4,1) is now in Engineering Verification Testing for a release sometime next year. As AppleInsider pointed out, BGR has been wildly incorrect with some previous rumors. They asserted that iTunes 9 would include support for Blu-Ray, and were slapped upside the head by Apple PR after they published a set of emails allegedly sent between Steve Jobs and an unhappy customer. In other words, if you have salt, sprinkle it liberally on this rumor.

[via AppleInsider]