iCloud Does Not Play Nicely With Verizon CDMA iPhone 4

We’ve all gotten used to Verizon arriving late to the party, and despite finally handing over the iPhone in February, Apple is still finding ways in which it can keep Verizon’s customers waiting. Next up is iCloud, which doesn’t play nicely with the CDMA iPhone built for the Verizon network.

During his announcement at WWDC yesterday, Steve Jobs said that some iCloud features were now in beta, including the ability to sync content among your devices, and download previous purchases. However, in order to enjoy these features, you need iOS 4.3.3 – a release not currently available for the Verizon iPhone…

At the bottom of the new iCloud page on Apple’s website, the small print states:

Some music features of iCloud are available in beta now in the U.S. only and requires iOS 4.3.1 on iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 (GSM model), iPod touch (3rd and 4th generation), iPad, or iPad 2, or a Mac or PC with iTunes 10.3.

No one really knows why the Verizon iPhone lags behind the AT&T version when it comes to iOS updates. As CNET notes, the two devices are virtually the same except one runs on CDMA networks whereas the other runs on GSM. Both feature Qualcomm chipsets, yet one – the Verizon one – seems to be continually left out in the cold when Apple is handing out software updates.

So, unfortunately for those of you on Verizon, unless you have access to the iOS 5 beta, you’re stuck without iCloud features for the time being. We will of course let you know when a compatible iOS release is available, but for the time being, how do you feel about not getting these features?