AT&T’s Stephenson: 3G iPhone coming ‘next year’

Speaking at a meeting of the Churchill Club in Santa Clara, California, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that Apple will bring out a version of the iPhone that runs on faster 3G data networks in 2008. “You’ll have it next year,” Stephenson said in response to a question on when the highly-anticipated device would debut. Previously, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said that current 3G chips are too power-hungry to use in the device, calling them “real power hogs” in a news conference in London. “We’ve got to see the battery lives for 3G get back up into the five-plus hour range,” Jobs said. “Hopefully we’ll see that next year.” When asked, Stephenson said that he didn’t know how much the faster 3G iPhone will cost, saying that Jobs “will dictate what the price of the phone is.”