AT&T wants to bring 4G icon to iPhone 4S

You thought the 4G agnosticism that Apple expressed during their iPhone 4S unveiling was going to be the end of the story? Think again. AT&T has confirmed to us that they are working with Apple to add a 4G icon to the status bar of the iPhone 4S.

After initial reports that AT&T was pushing for the icon, an AT&T representative confirmed to Geek.com that they are “working together [with Apple] on this.”

4G has been a muddy term in wireless marketing. All four US carriers claim to have 4G, though speeds can vary wildly. LTE (currently available on Verizon, is in the early stages on AT&T, and is being planned by Sprint) is now generally accepted as “true 4G,” though even it is a compromise over the original standards set forth for 4G.

As presented by Apple, AT&T’s version of the iPhone 4S will have download speeds of “up to 14.4 Mbps.” As we previously reported, though, your real-world speeds won’t likely get anywhere close to that. Owners of AT&T’s Android HSPA+ phones can tell you that their download speeds can often be indistinguishable from 3G speeds.

AT&T’s website curiously makes no mention of the term 4G in advertising, so perhaps Apple insisted that it not be used (at least at launch). But since the AT&T 4S should have the same speeds as the Atrix 4G, Inspire 4G, or LG Thrill 4G (the three devices Apple compared it to in the keynote), it isn’t surprising that AT&T would also describe their iPhone as 4G.

While those of us that frequent Geek likely know about the vastly different technologies that are all called “4G,” your typical customer may be less likely to. Even statistics like Mbps aren’t likely to mean a lot to some. That’s when the use of the term in marketing can get confusing. If Joe Phone Shopper walks into Best Buy, is he going to know the difference between the “4G” that the AT&T iPhone 4S has and the much faster 4G that Verizon’s Droid Bionic supports (using LTE)?

We have reached out for further clarification from AT&T, and will keep you posted when more details are available.