iPhone 11 Pro carrier vs unlock performance difference?

[callihan_44]

stupid question but ive never purchased an unlocked phone, normally i just get an at&t version so was wondering if there is any performance difference...does the branded version have any features in it's radio communication the unlocked doesnt?

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

stupid question but ive never purchased an unlocked phone, normally i just get an at&t version so was wondering if there is any performance difference...does the branded version have any features in it's radio communication the unlocked doesnt?

While I feel that this is something that carriers would love to somehow implement now that Net Neutrality has been repealed, I am fairly confident in saying that no, there should be no difference.

 

[jpn]

stupid question but ive never purchased an unlocked phone, normally i just get an at&t version so was wondering if there is any performance difference...does the branded version have any features in it's radio communication the unlocked doesnt?

when carriers purchase iPhones from apple, they buy a model that has the best bands for that carrier's installed / plan to install infrastructure.
a carrier does nothing physically to the device itself to change it or lock it in any way.
locking is done through entering that device's IMEI number and other numbers associated only with that one unique device into a data base that is shared among all carriers throughout the world.

you can check yr devices's model's bands with this chart from apple:

iPhone - Supported 5G and LTE networks

See the countries and regions that have certified 5G and LTE networks on iPhone including the U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, China mainland, and more.

www.apple.com

 

[callihan_44]

well just an update, purchased unlocked pro 11 and all is well so far....fast LTE speeds exactly the same as at&t branded one

 

[Tsepz]

well just an update, purchased unlocked pro 11 and all is well so far....fast LTE speeds exactly the same as at&t branded one

Makes sense, this is not Android where the Phone Makers like Samsung allow the Networks to “go to town” with their phones software, performance and sometimes hardware.

 

[cynics]

There isn't an "unlocked" specific model of the iPhone 11 so there is no worry about different performance (with a caveat I mention below) since they are identical. There are different models of the iPhone 11/Pro/Pro Max but they are region based....

US/Canada version
iPhone 11 - A2111
iPhone 11 Pro - A2160
iPhone 11 Pro Max - A2161

The radios for those three models are specific for US/Canda carriers. They lack some of the LTE bands popular outside of the US/Canda.

World version (except China that has their own version)
iPhone 11 - A2221
iPhone 11 Pro - A2215
iPhone 11 Pro Max - A2218

The radios for those three models are specific for popular radio bands/frequencies around the world. Like the US/Canada version the world version lacks LTE bands/radio tech popular in the US/Canada.

**** I mentioned all that because its important to know that buying an iPhone outside your home region can result in getting an iPhone 11 that does not have optimal performance. It should still work but you won't have LTE bands 14 and 71 OR LTE bands 11, 21, 28 and 32 which can result in degraded LTE performance.