It’s true that a Verizon iPhone would require new hardware. But that’s not a holdup. I’m nearly certain that a Verizon-compatible iPhone is pretty much like the Intel-compatible version of Mac OS X — something that Apple has kept going all along, ready to put into production when, if ever, its time comes.John Gruber

Other than "sources informed on the topic" (of which there are none in this post) I don't see any evidence why this would be the case. The reason Mac OS X was continuously built on x86 after NeXT acquired Apple is the same reason the USB team at VMware accepts bugs encountered in configurations we don't publicly support: it's a great way to ensure that your product is solid. If there's a problem in one configuration, chances are really good that it affects the others in some way. Never throw anything out that is supposed to work.

Apple has never made a product using CDMA before, and it's not worth the new investment to create new hardware unless it's in the plan. The iPhone division's time is too important—there's just too much to do. If there is a CDMA iPhone in existence, it's a recent development, not something that's "pretty much like the Intel-compatible version of Mac OS X".

I'm also not sold on this fixation with Verizon. They may have the largest subscriber base, but Verizon is notorious for the control they exert over their handsets. New firmware, new UI, disabling hardware features like GPS and Bluetooth—it would take a complete paradigm shift for Verizon to ever accept the iPhone without trying to dick with it. If there is a deal for a CDMA iPhone it seems more likely to me that it would be with Sprint. This "iPhone is coming to Verizon!" stuff has always sounded more like wishful thinking by locked-in Verizon customers than educated guesses by an impartial analyst.