New iPhone to Have Faster 3G?

A report in the Silicon Alley Insider cites a "plugged-in source in the mobile industry," and states that the next generation iPhone will have faster "Internet" access.

Rumors until now have centered on CPU and video procssing improvement.

Note that the report uses the term "Internet," not 3G or wi-fi. This leads to speculation as to what the source really meant (what, they didn't ask for clarification?).

AT&T's 4G (LTE) network won't be ready for a year or more, so that's out. It could mean 802.11n rather than the 802.11g that the current iPhone supports.

However, Electronista believes that the change could be in the 3G chipset for the iPhone, using the chipset Infineon introduced last year that supports HSPA rather than the older HSDPA hardware. This could mean download speeds as fast as 7.2Mbps while the current iPhone 3G is tops out at 3.6Mbps.

They add that AT&T has been trialling 7.2 Mbps and can make the change to its cell towers via software.

Here's my take: I prefer stability over speed. It was bad, really bad, when the iPhone 3G first came out. If this new chipset is going to lead to that sort of nightmare again, I'd rather not have it.

And hey, you would think Apple might rethink its decision to use Infineon chipsets after that last debacle.

Pic above from what is rumored to be a leaked photo of the new iPhone.