Next iPhone rumored to have support for 802.11n and more

Either Apple is doing what they obviously should by adding 802.11n to the feature list of the next iPhone or someone knows what I want and is making up detailed rumors to make me salivate. I’m sticking with the first.

AppleInsider dug up some information pertaining to a new WiFi and Bluetooth chip that’s supposed to make it’s way into a new iPod touch, and through the law of obviousness, a new iPhone. The current chip, which you should know by name (BCM4325), supposedly will be upgraded to BCM4329. That’s four points higher!

This newer chip supports 802.11n and 5GHz networks, so you’ll be able to use the same network as your new Mac without the need for the newer Airport Extreme or Time Capsule. This is a pretty awesome update, since 802.11n is much faster than lesser networks, and with iPhone OS 3.0 having support for file transfers and the like, this just makes sense. But an added bonus with this chip is the FM reception and transmission support. Looks like you might not be needing that FM transmitter you’ve been eying up lately. Doubtful this supports RDS, though if you have to look up what that exactly means, you probably won’t miss it that much.

Once again, rumored upgrades to the iPhone seem predictable, but needed. I really wish Apple would throw in a few curve balls and take us by surprise. This, of course, is still completely possible, and the FM capabilities are coming closer to that realm.