The Wall Street Journal has just published an article that states that Apple is currently working on a new iPhone model to be released this summer. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone (the last three iPhones have all been released during either June or July) but the report also includes one big red juicy tidbit: there’s a CDMA iPhone in the works as well, and it’s scheduled for mass production in September by Pegatron Technology Corp.
CDMA is of course the wireless technology used by Verizon (AT&T and most other operators worldwide use GSM) — it’s the reason you can’t buy an unlocked iPhone and get it working on Verizon. The WSJ’s report notes that these CDMA phones are scheduled to be produced in September, but that it isn’t clear when Apple might make them available.
For years now, there have been rumors about a Verizon version of the iPhone, but Apple has maintained its exclusive relationship with AT&T since the iPhone first launched in 2007 (much to the chagrin of many iPhone users, who have suffered from AT&T’s inability to cope with the high data demand, particularly in urban areas like San Francisco and New York).
Despite those problems, it’s not a forgone conclusion that Apple will be opening the iPhone up to Verizon. Apple recently reaffirmed its confidence in AT&T during its quarterly earnings report and has partnered with the company to provide the iPad’s data service.
That said, there’s reason to believe that Apple may be finally ready to move away from its exclusivity contract. For one, it’s probably not keen on allowing Android to monopolize the smartphone market among customers tethered to Verizon. And there’s another reason to believe this report is on the mark: one of the article’s three co-authors is Yukari Iwatani Kane, who has previously penned some very accurate, exclusive Apple articles — to the point that we’ve suspected that Apple itself may have previously leaked some information to her (they’ve used controlled leaks before).