An LTE iPhone this year remains unlikely, but if Apple were to launch an LTE-capable iPhone this fall -- AT&T would take yet another PR hit. AT&T will have just 15 markets wired with LTE by the end of this year, compared to Verizon's 175. That's a large gap that would make for more of the kind of broadband marketing fodder Verizon angered AT&T with back in 2009, when big red highlighted how many AT&T users could only connect at EDGE (128 kbps) speeds. Networks aside, it's reported that Apple's still not happy with battery consumption on the LTE iPhone, currently being tested by carriers. Meanwhile, Engadget has posted a photo purportedly from an Apple store showing LTE hardware installed by AT&T (since removed by available elsewhere) -- suggesting AT&T and Apple are prepping in-store LTE extenders to give the illusion of broader LTE coverage whenever the LTE iPhone does launch. When that launch will be is unclear, though AT&T plans to launch their AT&T network in five cities this summer.