T-Mobile

Industry checks by analysts have concluded that the fifth generation Apple iPhone will be a souped-up version of the iPhone 4, with improved hardware in a similar form factor. Sprint is also rumored to be the next major carrier to receive the device, as Apple has posted a job opening for a carrier engineer.

The job posting was originally listed with a location of Kansas City, Missouri which is only 20 miles from Sprint headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. Since the post was first revealed by Stop it, AT&T the job location has been changed to Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California. Sprint's network operates with CDMA, similar to Verizon Wireless which received the iPhone 4 earlier this year.

T-Mobile fans rejoice. New evidence points to Apple actively testing a variant of the iPhone 4 on the carrier's network. This story seems to contradict previous reports that the iPhone would not come to T-Mobile anytime soon, despite a merger deal with AT&T. Should the next iPhone be launched in September, the device very well could make its way to T-Mobile customers. The photo below from BGR shows a test unit in white with the carrier name listed as T-Mobile.

Rumors of an iPhone on T-Mobile are nothing new. The recent agreement between AT&T and parent company Deutsche Telekom may have excited some T-Mobile customers looking to score an iPhone 4. After all, the $39 billion acquisition would form the largest wireless carrier in the US.

Not so fast. Assuming the deal is approved by regulators, the merger would take 12 months. Until the merger is complete T-Mobile will operate as an independent company and has expressly stated it has no plans to offer the iPhone. So what will happen after the merger is complete?

Talks between Apple and T-Mobile on bringing the iPhone 4 to a second carrier in the US are said to be in advanced stages, with an 80 percent chance that the device will be offered by T-Mobile by the end of September. Should this happen, AT&T would no longer be the exclusive carrier for the iPhone 4 in the United States.

The anonymous source told Cult of Mac that T-Mobile's parent company, Deutsche Telekom, was influencing the talks. Deutsche Telekom carries the iPhone on its network in Germany.

Forget about Verizon Wireless. The next US carrier to get the iPhone 4 after the exclusive AT&T deal is over could very well be T-Mobile. Rumors of Apple negotiating with Verizon won't go away, however it seems more logical that T-Mobile could be the next step for iPhone.

Analyst Shaw Wu at the investment firm Kaufman Brothers made waves when he said he expects a T-Mobile iPhone 4 to arrive this fall. T-Mobile has compatible network technology and handles a variety of smartphones on its network. In fact, its parent company already has iPhones on networks in Austria, Croatia, Germany and Holland.