Apple solved 4G (+retina) on the iPad with a 70% larger battery.
But I think they'll solve it differently on the iPhone ("4GS"?): using Cortex-A15 + PowerVR G6200 (Rogue), both drastically underclocked, to give the same performance (or slightly better) than now. The A15 has x2 the efficiency of the current A8; the G6200 is x5 (five) as efficient as the current SGX543. Performance does not seem to be particularly an issue since the 4S went double core, so instead "spend" this improvement on power consumption. It will be hard for tech-focused competitors to make this trade-off.
4G efficiency will also improve slightly (or maybe a breakthrough); perhaps a slight increase in battery; and they might even delay the next iPhone until 4G is efficient enough. After all, it has limited coverage so far (I was surprised they put it in the iPad, since it's of no benefit to most users so far).
But I think they'll solve it differently on the iPhone ("4GS"?): using Cortex-A15 + PowerVR G6200 (Rogue), both drastically underclocked, to give the same performance (or slightly better) than now. The A15 has x2 the efficiency of the current A8; the G6200 is x5 (five) as efficient as the current SGX543. Performance does not seem to be particularly an issue since the 4S went double core, so instead "spend" this improvement on power consumption. It will be hard for tech-focused competitors to make this trade-off.
4G efficiency will also improve slightly (or maybe a breakthrough); perhaps a slight increase in battery; and they might even delay the next iPhone until 4G is efficient enough. After all, it has limited coverage so far (I was surprised they put it in the iPad, since it's of no benefit to most users so far).