[NewsPoster]

The next-generation iPhone -- believed to be the iPhone 5S -- could support LTE Advanced, an anonymous official with SK Telecom tells the Korea Times. SK is said to have approached Apple with the idea instead of the other way around, but the two parties are nevertheless said to be "in the middle of negotiations." The Times suggests that Apple will probably use a Qualcomm chip to support the standard.

In supported areas, LTE Advanced could potentially double the download speeds available on the iPhone. The technology works by spreading a single download over multiple radio channels. Only South Korea currently has a significant LTE Advanced network, but American carriers are expected to start upgrading later this year.

Reports have indicated that one or more new iPhones will start shipping in September. The featureset of the iPhone 5S has rarely been mentioned, but it's believed that it will get a faster A7 processor, and possibly some form of fingerprint recognition. The latter could be paired with NFC to enable secure iPhone-based payments at retail.

[4phun]

I would jump on a new iPad that had that feature too.
AT&T 4G is fast but I could always use faster!

[AppleTechSpot]

Most people don't have the need for the bandwidth that LTE provides. This is why iPhone 4 and 4s sales have continued to be so good. The Qualcomm chipset will help improve margins though as it will allow for fewer versions of the iPhone in more markets.