Shocker: next iPhone expected to launch later this year with LTE

BGR passes along a report from DigiTimes this morning which claims that Apple is planning to launch a new iPhone later this year equipped with LTE technology. You don’t say?

Well, considering that Apple has released a new iPhone every year for the past 5 years, it’s safe to assume that we’ll see another one in 2012. And given the fact that the company’s latest tablet contains LTE, it’s not hard to fathom that its next handset will too…

While we consider this to be more of a common sense thing than a rumor, we do expect a lot of gossip this year regarding the upcoming iPhone. A lot of folks are anticipating this model to employ the redesign and features that were expected in last year’s iPhone including a 4-inch display and yes, an LTE radio.

Apple sold more than 37 million handsets last fall after announcing the iPhone 4S. So in order to improve on that this year, it’s going to have to step up its game. And that’s what makes this next iPhone so interesting. Will we finally see the thinner, larger-screened handset that fits in all of those cases we saw surface last year?

What do you think?