Verizon's certainly a likely partner enough. It's not as though Apple's going to jump ship for T-Mobile or Sprint, neither of which can match the heft of Verizon or AT&T. But even though Verizon may brag about its amazing network, AT&T still has 78 million subscribers--certainly nothing to sneeze at.

While the technology hurdles are not impossible to overcome, the chances that Apple's going to make a CDMA-based version of the iPhone go by the names of "Slim" and "None." An LTE phone for the forthcoming 4G network is a possibility since it'll be GSM-compatible, but given how recently most of the providers finished rolling out their 3G networks, it's going to be a while before the 4G networks reach anywhere near the same level of market saturation.

Why not two separate models? It just doesn't seem like Apple's . For one thing, two models means extra expenses for the company: two sets of manufacturing, dual infrastructure requirements, multiple customer support personnel and training. For another, compared to GSM-based technologies, which is in use in most countries around the world, the CDMA standard exists in very few places outside of the U.S. Besides, there's the matter of philosophy: Apple is all about limiting choices--it doesn't want the customer to have to think about versus , or which provider they need to get a contract with: Apple just wants them to buy an iPhone and be done.

Verizon, of course, would desperately like to be offering some sort of handset that would give the iPhone a run for its money. The company made forays into the touchscreen space with the LG Voyager and the BlackBerry Storm, but try as the provider might, nothing has quite managed to compete with the iPhone's ease-of-use, broad application platform, and sleek design. Verizon's shown itself willing to play the field with anybody, too:  to partner for an as-yet unannounced phone product. That might not sit well with Apple, given that the company enjoys being the center of attention.

The more likely explanation for the Verizon and Apple talks, as some have suggested, is to give Apple some leverage against AT&T. When Apple discontinued the original iPhone in favor of the iPhone 3G, the company gave up most of the concessions it'd wrung out of AT&T--such as a cut of subscriber revenues--in return for the wireless provider subsidizing the phone's price. That lower cost helped propel the iPhone 3G into its widespread popularity; if Apple could cut that price further, or keep it steady and get its subscriber cut back, that'd make things that much sweeter for the company.