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Iphone 5, A1428, and A1429 GSM question

I

illutionz

macrumors 65816
Oct 2, 2007
1,339
49
Rhode Island
cchukan said:
Anyone?
Click to expand...

If you get A1428 from AT&T, you will not be able to use LTE in Germany but you can use LTE in US via AT&T.

If you get A1429 GSM International Version, you will not be able to use LTE in the US at all (not AT&T nor Verizon nor Sprint) but you can use LTE in Germany.

If you get the A1429 CDMA version, you can use LTE in the US with VERIZON and LTE overseas in Germany.

And yes, the A1429 CDMA version has an unlocked simcard slot that you can use German's simcard.
 
C

cchukan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 15, 2008
10
0
illutionz said:
If you get A1428 from AT&T, you will not be able to use LTE in Germany but you can use LTE in US via AT&T.

If you get A1429 GSM International Version, you will not be able to use LTE in the US at all (not AT&T nor Verizon nor Sprint) but you can use LTE in Germany.

If you get the A1429 CDMA version, you can use LTE in the US with VERIZON and LTE overseas in Germany.

And yes, the A1429 CDMA version has an unlocked simcard slot that you can use German's simcard.
Click to expand...

Thank you! One more question...So I know Verizon phones allow GSM Sim cards with unlocking...but I can't get a Verizon phone...Will this work for sprint as well? I know hardware wise..VERIZON and SPRINT are both A1429 CDMA version....
 
I

illutionz

macrumors 65816
Oct 2, 2007
1,339
49
Rhode Island
cchukan said:
Thank you! One more question...So I know Verizon phones allow GSM Sim cards with unlocking...but I can't get a Verizon phone...Will this work for sprint as well? I know hardware wise..VERIZON and SPRINT are both A1429 CDMA version....
Click to expand...

I know both are the same phones but I have yet to see an article about Sprint's A1429 CDMA phones have unlocked simcard slot. I know Verizon ones do (mainly because VZW is using Band 13 which is the 700 Mhz block that FCC mandated to be "open")

Maybe if anyone who has the Sprint iPhone 5 can check and confirm for you.
 
C

cchukan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 15, 2008
10
0
illutionz said:
I know both are the same phones but I have yet to see an article about Sprint's A1429 CDMA phones have unlocked simcard slot. I know Verizon ones do (mainly because VZW is using Band 13 which is the 700 Mhz block that FCC mandated to be "open")

Maybe if anyone who has the Sprint iPhone 5 can check and confirm for you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help!
 
Gav2k

Gav2k

macrumors G3
Jul 24, 2009
9,216
1,608
You could just get it unlocked go to Germany and pop into an apple store explain and they will swap it for a brown box unit. Apple are very helpful
 
Nermal

Nermal

Moderator
Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
20,622
3,982
New Zealand
OwenMeasures said:
What about if i buy a GSM model in New Zealand and im from the England, will i be ok for LTE when my carrier supports it?
Click to expand...

The NZ model is most likely going to be the 1429, which is the same as the one sold in the UK. Furthermore it'll be unlocked.
 
D

DrSig

macrumors newbie
Oct 15, 2011
2
0
Phoenix
illutionz said:
I know both are the same phones but I have yet to see an article about Sprint's A1429 CDMA phones have unlocked simcard slot. I know Verizon ones do (mainly because VZW is using Band 13 which is the 700 Mhz block that FCC mandated to be "open")

Maybe if anyone who has the Sprint iPhone 5 can check and confirm for you.
Click to expand...

I just tried to put my Hong Kong nanoSim into both ATT and Sprint while in US and get the same screen as below.
 

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S

Satnam1989

macrumors 65816
Nov 16, 2011
1,200
0
Illinois
Hey, LTE is still years away from being a standard network thats available in every market. In many places like India, Africa, West Indies (Caribbean) to name a few you still get only 2G....3G(HSPA/HSDPA/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA) is still in the deployment stages so apple being smart isn't wasting time and money putting in radio's that aren't yet needed. Even in Europe the odds of one getting LTE all over the place is still a dream come true....So you wont get LTE on your AT&T unlocked iPhone 5 but you sure will get the most reliable network right now....3G....which will be more than enough to get you through your 3 years.

Apple isnt like samsung that just takes a bunch of cheap parts and put them together to fill up the spec sheet....Apple instead thinks and then puts together the phone based on what is sufficient and works.

iPhone 4S/5 are truly world phones because you can connect to a 2G/3G Voice & Data network anywhere and everywhere world wide. Sure you cant get on CDMA and LTE...but again LTE isn't something that is available around every corner...coverage is still choppy and in many countries its in its early days of launch.

Also in the coming years we will be seeing a increase in 3G speeds due to network becoming less crowded as more people take the jump to LTE...so for those times that we have to survive around the globe with just 3G...it wont be that bad at all.
 
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G

GIapple

macrumors newbie
Jan 2, 2013
1
0
I am stationed in Germany. There is almost nowhere that you will be stationed here that has LTE on or around post. With that said if u are stationed on a big post and travel u will likely be on 3G or E. iv been using my unlocked AT&T 4 and traveled all Europe with it and all I have to so is change out cards. The issue u will have is the new SIM cards... No place here has those in prepaid so u have to get a plan. Or u can get your own SIM card cutter and make it work... Maybe I haven't tried it myself yet.
 
O

olup

Cancelled
Oct 11, 2011
383
40
Why not buy an unlocked phone in Germany? There are prepaid offers that offer the nano sim for the Iphone 5 and you won't be locked into a contract.

www.simyo.deis the one I'm on and it's an ok deal. They are using the so-called D2 network, which isn't as good as the D1(Telekom)network, but you will have at least E/3G connection.
LTE is very scarce even in big metropolitan areas like Berlin,Hamburg,Frankfurt.
 
T

ThatsMeRight

macrumors 68020
Sep 12, 2009
2,289
251
cchukan said:
Hey,

quick question, why do you say the AT&T version (GSM) is worse than the Verizon or Sprint version (CDMA) when all of Europe is GSM? According to their website the Verizon/Sprint version is only a CDMA version not CDMA and GSM like the Iphone 4s or am I missing something here? Let me know thanks!
Click to expand...

There are already countries in Europe with nation wide LTE coverage, but there are also some without any LTE coverage. Also, it is not uncommon to reach speeds up to 20-30 Mbps in Europe on 3G networks. Not sure about the network speeds in Germany, though.

There are three iPhone 5 models:

- One for AT&T (because of certain LTE frequencies)
- One for Verizon, Sprint and Japan
- One for Europe and the rest of the world

The first one is, in my opinion, most limited. It supports few LTE frequencies and has no CDMA support.

The second one is the best model. It supports most LTE frequencies (namely those for Verizon and Sprint + the rest of the world (think Europe, Australia, Asia)). This model also supports CDMA. This model is mainly sold in the US and Japan.

The third model is similar to the second model and is sold worldwide, except for the USA. It supports more LTE bands than the first model, but less than the second model. It also doesn't support LTE.

So quick overview:

1) Model 1: few LTE frequencies (North-America support only), no CDMA
2) Model 2: most LTE frequencies (works all around the world), includes CDMA
3) Model 3: average LTE frequencies (mainly works everywhere except North-America), no CDMA

All models include the same, fast, 3G support.

------------
In fact, they could have used only two models: the second model does exactly the same as the third model, but supports more LTE frequencies and supports CDMA.

I think that third model only exists because it is cheaper to produce than the second model.

The first model just sucks: it's got the fewest LTE frequencies (and thus works only in North-America) and it doesn't support CDMA.
 
Menel

Menel

Suspended
Aug 4, 2011
6,351
1,356
Dwalls90 said:
I doubt I'll travel the world in the next year, so it's of no personal concern.

Just baffled that we cannot create a phone that works on all frequencies in 2012, when the world has had cellular technology for years now.
Click to expand...
Newsflash, LTE is new, and has a lot of different bands.

Look how long it took to get world phones for GSM and CDMA networks.

Whats amazing is how the iPhone 5 can be a world phone for Voice, and 21mbps 4G/hspa+ and 42mbps 4G/dc-hspa. This is already overkill speed.
 
hogprint

hogprint

macrumors regular
Oct 25, 2006
115
14
Wisconsin
GIapple said:
I am stationed in Germany.
I'm about to pop over to Germany for two weeks of TDY in the k-town area. Any recommendations on which provider to get pre-paid service through? I've got a Verizon iPhone 5 and a iPad Mini that I'd like to have service for. I've done some diligence and have a couple of contacts set but I was looking for an actual opinion from a GI on the ground. PM me if you'd rather.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
A

apollo1444

macrumors 65816
Jul 22, 2011
1,329
27
mexico
the at&t one is not limited like people are saying becuase it will support LTE for several countries in most of the americas right now only canada us and mexico

the a1429 is only for cdma networks in the us and gsm in europe it also might work for european LTE use that's all you need to know
 
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