Any advantage to buying Japanese iphone 7?

[pesos]

im here in Japan for the next few weeks and wondering if there would be any point in picking up the nfc-capable Iphone (assuming it isn't missing any lte bands like the 6 was)... or is it a proprietary implementation that would be useless in the states?

 

[willmtaylor]

I don't think that's something we'll know until all of the specifics are made public.

Out of curiosity, where are you? I've had the privilege of traveling to JP several times in the last few years.

 

[pesos]

Nice! Love it here. We used to live in Ebisu (Tokyo) and tend to make that general area home base when we visit - can see friends and eat all our favorites and the in laws are all about 30-40 minutes by train.

 

[willmtaylor]

Nice! Love it here. We used to live in Ebisu (Tokyo) and tend to make that general area home base when we visit - can see friends and eat all our favorites and the in laws are all about 30-40 minutes by train.

Very cool. I've spent time in Narita, Shibuya, Yokohama, & Kamakura. Then I've also done volunteer work in the northern tsunami-hit areas of Rikuzentakata and Ofunato in the Iwate prefecture.

 

[Hal~9000]

im here in Japan for the next few weeks and wondering if there would be any point in picking up the nfc-capable Iphone (assuming it isn't missing any lte bands like the 6 was)... or is it a proprietary implementation that would be useless in the states?

Nit sure about which LTE bands the Japan version will have (will need to wait till Apple puts these up on a spec page after the event) but if you want FeliCa tap-to-pay capabilities then you'll have to buy the Japan version: https://www.macrumors.com/2016/08/25/apple-iphone-sony-felica-chip/

 

[eyoungren]

im here in Japan for the next few weeks and wondering if there would be any point in picking up the nfc-capable Iphone (assuming it isn't missing any lte bands like the 6 was)... or is it a proprietary implementation that would be useless in the states?

Just one very minor, but possibly annoying thing to note if you buy and bring the phone home.

Japanese law requires that all phones sold in Japan that have a camera make a noise when taking a picture and prevent the user from disabling that sound.

Specific to the Japanese iPhone then it means that you cannot disable the camera shutter sound, even by placing the phone on mute.

Just bringing that up because there's always someone in these forums asking how they can turn off the camera shutter sound on a Japanese iPhone.

 

[pesos]

Ah good point. Have experienced the sketchy upskirt-photo-in-the-elevator thing myself. Nearly throttled the guy's neck.

 

[puma1552]

Can you even buy a phone there without an alien registration card? When I lived there, you couldn't.

 

[pesos]

My wife's a Japanese national. Also I think there were plenty of Chinese scalpers in line last year but maybe they've cracked down since for that very reason...

 

[Sampple]

Can you even buy a phone there without an alien registration card? When I lived there, you couldn't.

Yes at any Apple Store. Since at least the 5s through today.

 

[puma1552]

Yes at any Apple Store. Since at least the 5s through today.

good to know - i left during the 4...5 years ago this week, actually.

 

[Juan007]

I will be doing whatever I can to order the Japanese version, if it has NFC capability that other versions don't have. But I don't think Apple would make that mistake. We all know what a disaster the TSMC vs Samsung chipgate scandal was, Apple isn't dumb enough to lie to consumers and sell two different products under the same name again.

 

[willmtaylor]

I will be doing whatever I can to order the Japanese version, if it has NFC capability that other versions don't have. But I don't think Apple would make that mistake. We all know what a disaster the TSMC vs Samsung chipgate scandal was, Apple isn't dumb enough to lie to consumers and sell two different products under the same name again.

Do you frequently travel to Japan? If not, why do you care?

 

[Juan007]

Do you frequently travel to Japan? If not, why do you care?

I don't frequently travel to Japan, but I have traveled to Japan many times in the past. I do have a Suica card in my drawer (haven't used in a few years, hope it still works!). The point isn't weather I'm going to travel to Japan in the next year (answer is possibly, but probably not), the point is that I don't want an inferior product. I'm paying $650 for a product, it's a reasonable expectation for a premium device.

 

[willmtaylor]

I don't frequently travel to Japan, but I have traveled to Japan many times in the past. I do have a Suica card in my drawer (haven't used in a few years, hope it still works!). The point isn't weather I'm going to travel to Japan in the next year (answer is possibly, but probably not), the point is that I don't want an inferior product. I'm paying $650 for a product, it's a reasonable expectation for a premium device.

Different =/= inferior.

JP models are rumored to have an NFC reader that only works with JP tech. That's not superior.

 

[ErnstStavroBlohard]

They're all made in China, aren't they?

 

[willmtaylor]

They're all made in China, aren't they?

We aren't referring to where it's manufactured, but rather which region it's designed to be used in.

 

[ErnstStavroBlohard]

We aren't referring to where it's manufactured, but rather which region it's designed to be used in.

I wasn't aware of region-exclusive hardware features, my mistake. Hopefully this year Apple makes a single SKU with all of the bands included, not a separate SKU with only 1 additional band.

 

[Juan007]

Different =/= inferior.

JP models are rumored to have an NFC reader that only works with JP tech. That's not superior.

If JP models have a part / feature that NA models don't have then the JP part is superior.

 

[willmtaylor]

If JP models have a part / feature that NA models don't have then the JP part is superior.

IMHO, nope. Perhaps "superior" is in the eye of the beholder, but having useless, impractical add-ons does not make one product superior (just ask Samsung ).

If I live in Hawaii, I'm not going to order a Canadian Jeep Wrangler simply because having an optional engine block warmer makes the Canadian version superior. That's completely illogical.

 

[eyoungren]

If JP models have a part / feature that NA models don't have then the JP part is superior.

But what if that part only works IN Japan and not outside of Japan?

 

[pesos]

If JP models have a part / feature that NA models don't have then the JP part is superior.

That makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[TheBigDog]

im here in Japan for the next few weeks and wondering if there would be any point in picking up the nfc-capable Iphone (assuming it isn't missing any lte bands like the 6 was)... or is it a proprietary implementation that would be useless in the states?

Yeah, you're unlikely to be eligible for any replacement schemes if you take it out of the country of purchase

Good luck with that.

 

[pesos]

Good point!