iPhone 4s - is it really a 'world phone'?

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AKT

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#91348 11-Oct-2011 22:45

I just came across this statement on the apple website...

"The unlocked iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S will not work with CDMA-based carriers."

Does that mean you need to buy your 4s from a CDMA carrier for it to work with them? Not really an issue in NZ anymore but I had thought CDMA capability would have been useful for avoiding roaming charges as you’d have a better pick of carriers and could (potentially) have had 2 lines - one GSM and one CDMA. I am no doubt missing something but it seems a shame you can’t buy an unlocked CDMA phone.

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tardtasticx

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#532160 11-Oct-2011 23:24

I'm pretty sure it'd be a network based thing. Telecom didn't do that did they? I mean, accept unlocked CDMA phones onto their old network.

sbiddle

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#532176 12-Oct-2011 06:19

CDMA roaming is nothing like GSM/WCDMA roaming. Without having an account with a CDMA carrier there is no way it could work.

AKT

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#532179 12-Oct-2011 06:32

I'm not suggesting you shouldn't need and account - after all, you still need an account for GSM to work too, roaming or otherwise. It just seems odd that you can't buy a phone and ask your provider for service with CDMA.

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profrink

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#532216 12-Oct-2011 09:25

I think the whole 'world phone' angle is really targeted at the CDMA customers (Verizon & Sprint) as they will generally be the ones with far less roaming options outside of the US.

tonyhughes

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#532225 12-Oct-2011 09:39

AKT: I'm not suggesting you shouldn't need and account - after all, you still need an account for GSM to work too, roaming or otherwise. It just seems odd that you can't buy a phone and ask your provider for service with CDMA. A

It appears you have zero working knowledge of CDMA in relation to attaching phones to networks.

The basics:

Throw all your understanding of SIM cards, GSM, and W-CDMA out of the window.
CDMA requires carrier settings on the handset (typically not user-accessible).
CDMA requires the ESN of the handset to be loaded at the network.
Bring-your-own device has never been an option on Telecom CDMA.

It's not odd, it is just the way the technology and systems were built. Some analogy there to the Apple ecosystem - you don't get ultimate flexibility, but you get a pretty well managed experience by the provider.

I.e. you bought a CDMA phone from Telecom - you knew it was the right frequencies etc.

Not as convenient as SIM based technology, but certainly had benefits for both the carrier and the customer (arguably more for the carrier).

chiefie

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#532228 12-Oct-2011 09:41

In the GSM world, the iPhone 4 is already covering 3G 850/900/1900/2100. The CDMA combi is advantage to Apple on saving the cost of making two variants of same product, by using single CDMA/WCDMA radio chip, they can distribute same build of phone to different carriers, and also mean they can roll out uniform single update patch to all iPhone 4s devices.

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#532260 12-Oct-2011 10:23

Im not familiar with this topic, but last trip to the US I took an Okta Mondo, that was a world phone. From memory it had a GSM/CDMA setting.

Now, if you have a NZ iPhone 4 or 4S, is it not possible to take that NZ bought phone to the US to use on Global Roaming? Is a US sim no option either? As I think most is CDMA? I think there was a smattering of GSM on the North East

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#532261 12-Oct-2011 10:29

tdgeek: Im not familiar with this topic, but last trip to the US I took an Okta Mondo, that was a world phone. From memory it had a GSM/CDMA setting.

Now, if you have a NZ iPhone 4 or 4S, is it not possible to take that NZ bought phone to the US to use on Global Roaming? Is a US sim no option either? As I think most is CDMA? I think there was a smattering of GSM on the North East

Your Okta worked in US probably it was operating using GSM.

With Apple's iPhone 4s, CDMA/WCDMA single radio chip is probably more benefiting the CDMA carriers as they can provide their customers the ability to roam around the world on major GSM networks by swapping/using SIM card as they travel.

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