On the latest episode of The Talk Show, Dan Benjamin asks if Apple could ship the next iPhone with LTE turned off by default to preserve battery life—since current LTE radios are so power hungry. John Gruber’s response was unsure but he didn’t think it would be the type of thing Apple would do. One possible precedent for Apple doing such a thing is Siri. The iPhone 4S ships with Siri off by default. Sure, this is probably because Siri is currently in beta, but the same line of thinking could apply to LTE as well. LTE is in a limited roll out. Apple could save power on everyone’s iPhone by having LTE support built-in but turned off by default. The minority of people that live in areas with LTE coverage could then turn on LTE if they feel the reduction of battery life is worth it.