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Why are there multiple carrier iPhones?
- Thread starter Kendo
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Yep, if you're paying full price you really should be ensuring there's no SIM/carrier lock on the phone before you walk out of the store. Get it in writing!!! 
Correct one thing mentioned earlier....when you migrate a CDMA device from one carrier to another, the identifier is called an ESN (IMEI is GSM phones) - in the case of those with the Qualcomm radios - formerly known as "world phones" by the CDMA carriers, as they could roam on GSM networks, they have both an ESN and an IMEI.
And it's looking like Intel may grab a slice of the CDMA pie before it's gone:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aaront...ll-of-qualcomms-iphone-business/#346c4cecabbb
LTE (long term evolution) was co-developed by a group of companies (including Qualcomm), so it shouldn't be surprising that there's elements from both CDMA as well as GSM - the intent was that this is where the two groups would merge and the entire world would be one big happy family - the convergence point was actually the revision before - HSPA - but the motivation to going there was the faster speeds with LTE.
Qualcomm actually owns the CDMA protocol - every CDMA device in the world pays licensing fees to Qualcomm. There's a fair bit of concern there as the world migrates to LTE - as they co-developed it, they don't own it....so that licensing gravy's going away. They have to compete with others in the modem and base station market now. Level playing field.
Oh...and Verizon and Sprint didn't choose CDMA because GSM sucked....heh...there where a few different protocols as things went digital - but TDMA and CDMA became the two standards....TDMA second generation actually split - there was GSM and iDEN. iDEN was popular as they had their two-way walkie-talkie feature (Clearnet in Canada and Nextel in the US). iDEN eventually died out, with Clearnet being gobbled up by Rogers (now Fido) and Nextel merging with Sprint.
TDMA was much more popular as it was MUCH better on battery life than CDMA. Something GSM also inherited.
Correct one thing mentioned earlier....when you migrate a CDMA device from one carrier to another, the identifier is called an ESN (IMEI is GSM phones) - in the case of those with the Qualcomm radios - formerly known as "world phones" by the CDMA carriers, as they could roam on GSM networks, they have both an ESN and an IMEI.
And it's looking like Intel may grab a slice of the CDMA pie before it's gone:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aaront...ll-of-qualcomms-iphone-business/#346c4cecabbb
LTE (long term evolution) was co-developed by a group of companies (including Qualcomm), so it shouldn't be surprising that there's elements from both CDMA as well as GSM - the intent was that this is where the two groups would merge and the entire world would be one big happy family - the convergence point was actually the revision before - HSPA - but the motivation to going there was the faster speeds with LTE.
Qualcomm actually owns the CDMA protocol - every CDMA device in the world pays licensing fees to Qualcomm. There's a fair bit of concern there as the world migrates to LTE - as they co-developed it, they don't own it....so that licensing gravy's going away. They have to compete with others in the modem and base station market now. Level playing field.
Oh...and Verizon and Sprint didn't choose CDMA because GSM sucked....heh...there where a few different protocols as things went digital - but TDMA and CDMA became the two standards....TDMA second generation actually split - there was GSM and iDEN. iDEN was popular as they had their two-way walkie-talkie feature (Clearnet in Canada and Nextel in the US). iDEN eventually died out, with Clearnet being gobbled up by Rogers (now Fido) and Nextel merging with Sprint.
TDMA was much more popular as it was MUCH better on battery life than CDMA. Something GSM also inherited.
except via a three store or carphonewharehouse.
the two stores phones are unlocked.
Was told by staff and have tried other sims in my contract phones and they work confirming staff info.
from these stores also no carrier bloatware either.
didn’t know that.
just dont ask for unlocked one, they give you same phone but they HAVE to charge you £40 more if you ask, company rules.
Staff told me this too!
I know a few ex staff also and they confirm this, lol
Staff told me this too!
I know a few ex staff also and they confirm this, lol
But you can buy it outright in the US too right? So why offer different versions on the apple store?
I think because in the US the carriers use different radio technologies and that’s why the devices need to be specifically equipped with correct type of chips. Like the whole gsm and cdma thing. The rest of the world mainly use gsm.
1. No, it depends on each market and regulations. Eg countries like Hong Kong banned carrier locking completely, while others like Japan and US embrace carrier locking.
2. Some carriers require carrier locking for phones that are sold through them. Knowing the demand of iPhone, Apple started selling SIM free iPhones since iPhone 4 since they realize there are people who are willing to pay full price for their phones without dealing with carriers. Majority of phone purchases in the US, however, are still purchased through carriers
3. It’s generally the best since it is unlocked out of the box regardless how you purchase it, and it works with the largest carrier in the US.
4. CDMA carriers like Verizon and Sprint don’t usually allow BYOD, thus buying a SIM free phone won’t guarantee CDMA compatibility nor registered in Verizon/Sprint database.
5. I believe there are actually two versions of iPhones in the US in terms of actual hardware model. The SIM free version usually refers to the GSM version (correct me if I’m wrong though)
We will always see multiple versions of iPhones in the US until the government completely bans carrier locking (like in Hong Kong/Singapore). In most countries, Apple only sells one single unlocked model (plus in most countries, all their carriers use GSM)
The different versions are the ones that have a CDMA modem and the ones that don’t. And really there are only two different models. The iPhone supports all carriers in the US. Look at this sheet from their website.
Thanks guys, the installment plan makes 100% sense and now I see why you can have locked phones these days.
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I own a 6S. Are you saying that all 6S and 6S+ have GSM and CDMA capability?Except if you use a 6s or 6s+.
Lol, I've seen PC manufacturers make different model numbers/SKUs for Best Buy so you can't price match with online stores.
As for why Apple uses different models for CDMA/GSM and GSM only, I expect cost. A $1-2 savings per device on 10 million iPhones is still $10-20 million.
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Yep. I believe the iPhone SE is also universal. The 6/6+ have both GSM and CDMA but the AT&T/T-Mobile/Verizon doesn't support all the bands that the Sprint model does. I was pretty disappointed that Apple went back to having both GSM-only and GSM/CDMA models with the iPhone 7.
All of them have the Qualcomm modem is what I am saying.
The Intel modem didn't happen until the iPhone 7.
But I thought an unlocked Verizon phone purchased outright can be activated on att&t?
Verizon and SIM-free models are exactly identical (A1863 for the 8 and A1864 for the 8+), except the SIM free one comes with no SIM whereas the Verizon one does.
ALL Verizon models are unlocked even if you do NOT pay full price. Verizon device payment plan phones are also unlocked, confirmed by Verizon rep. Insert conversation about Verizon's use of LTE frequencies and the requirement to unlock all LTE phones.
Apple could sell just ONE single phone with all bands for use on all carriers, but I'm sure it comes down to money and profit margins, simple as that.
ALL Verizon models are unlocked even if you do NOT pay full price. Verizon device payment plan phones are also unlocked, confirmed by Verizon rep. Insert conversation about Verizon's use of LTE frequencies and the requirement to unlock all LTE phones.
Apple could sell just ONE single phone with all bands for use on all carriers, but I'm sure it comes down to money and profit margins, simple as that.
Which is exactly what I’ve said multiple times. The Verizon/Sprint iphone 8/8+ work on all carriers.