New 'iPhone 4S' might come to Sprint, T-Mobile

By Doug Gross, CNN May 16, 2011 2:43 p.m. EDTMay 16, 2011 -- Updated 1843 GMT (0243 HKT) | Filed under: Mobile

A man checks what appears to be an iPhone while attending a Senate privacy hearing with Apple and Google executives

(CNN) -- Maybe the hotly anticipated iPhone 5 won't be an iPhone 5 at all.

But it might be available on more carriers.

The emerging theory, based on reports from industry analysts, is that the next model of Apple's smartphone will be called the iPhone 4S and be an update of the current model, not a radical advance.

Multiple sites this weekend were citing a report by Peter Misek, an analyst with Jefferies & Co.

"According to our industry checks, the device should be called iPhone 4S and include minor cosmetic changes, better cameras, A5 dual-core processor, and HSPA+ support," Misek wrote in a report Friday.

Other analysts have offered similar predictions.

But Misek also wrote that Sprint, T-Mobile and China Mobile will be added as iPhone carriers, citing more "industry checks."

The A5 dual-core processor is the same one that's in the iPad 2. A dual-core processor is considered faster at running two programs at once than the single-core A4 processor in the iPhone 4.

The term "HSPA+ is a reference to high-speed processing. The phone reportedly will not utilize long-term evolution (LTE) technology, which is frequently marketed as 4G coverage.

The reports, and speculation, come as Apple's traditional iPhone freshen-up approaches.

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference begins June 6. That's been used as Apple's launching pad for the latest iPhone the past few years, but Apple has suggested the event will focus almost exclusively on software this year.

The tech-community's hunch is that a new iPhone will be unveiled in the fall and rolled out in time for the holidays.