Ah, yes....in the USA carriers have all but foregone the subsidies. I'd much rather be on one of the old 2 year contracts and get a phone than go the route we have to go now. Maybe they will bring them back but I'm not holding my breath.
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BEWARE ALL EUROPEANS & US SPRINT/ T MOBILE USERS!
- Thread starter JLB90
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Most people all over the world will not care if their unlocked iPhone cannot work on Sprint or Verizon USA.
Those 2 carriers do not dictate that a device is more capable or less capable.
There's different frequencies and bands used throughout the world and different regions use different radios to connect to 3G/4G/LTE.
One should purchase a device that fully works and takes advantage of all bands used by their carrier instead of worrying if their device will connect to LTE or CDMA in another country in case if they ever end up there and need to use a specific carrier for a short period of time.
You're blowing this way out of proportion.
Its not a big deal at all.
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Unfortunately the iPhone SE does not come unlocked that can use both CDMA and GSM tech together.
If you buy the Verizon SE then yes you can use it on Verizon and any GSM carrier in the world.
Not on Sprint though even though they're CDMA.
If you purchase the Apple officially unlocked SE it will only work on GSM.
Incorrect. I bought the SE SIM free/unlocked outright from Apple and it works fine on both Verizon and TMO's networks.
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Ok thank you. I'm in the US using an ATT SIM but travel abroad frequently (Europe) so my intention is to switch SIM's for the local carrier when there. I assume since it's GSM based I should be fine I hope? Sorry for derailing the topic a bit.
Are you sure.
Did you buy a full priced Verizon SE? Or was it the officially Apple unlocked SE?
Im not 100% but I thought it was only the iphone 6 and 6S that was interchangeable with CDMA/GSM once unlocked.
http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/#iphone-se
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If your AT&T iphone SE is unlocked it will work with any GSM sim in the world.
If its locked to AT&T then it will not work with any other carrier unless you request an unlock for it from AT&T.
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I am positive. The decision was deliberate for my purposes at purchase. The US Unlocked/SIM Free model I have is A1662. Also, the SE tech specs show both models have CDMA components.
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Nice, I dont think that capability was ever there before for any other iPhone device besides those phones then.
Iphone SE, 6 and 6S.
Its a nice option to have even though some might never need to use it. Also a plus for resale but not something I would chase or go out of my way to get.
If my device works with every band my current carrier uses then that's all that matters to me in the end. I dont switch carriers often or flip flop with various wireless networks.
I dont really care if I can use it with a random carriers LTE or CDMA network while traveling on a vacation somewhere for a few days. As long as its GSM unlocked and has most bands available then no big deal to me.
Yeah, these 3 phones were the first to have combined radios. Apple should have stuck with it but I have a feeling it was a carrier requirement, which still doesn't make sense. It's my 2nd device here at home and I have a Verizon MVNO pre-paid in it but also use it as my travel phone so I put SIM cards from various countries in it overseas.
Verizon could have gotten in on pre-paid action for tourists with iPhone 7's but since they can't, those people will just go to AT&T & TMO.
The Verizon one is the only one that can take Verizon SIM cards, BUT will take ANY SIM card you throw into it pretty much. Whereas the regular GSM ones will work with most any SIM cards, but will NOT ACCEPT Verizon SIM cards, because of the CDMA technology that Verizon uses.
It is no big deal to most people, as people from other countries can just hop on a US GSM network instead. And Verizon users can either roam, or pop in a prepaid SIM card.
LTE is still not universal which is annoying.
It is no big deal to most people, as people from other countries can just hop on a US GSM network instead. And Verizon users can either roam, or pop in a prepaid SIM card.
LTE is still not universal which is annoying.
I hear you.
If they stuck with one type of baseband chip that does both like the one sold to Verizon iphone 7 customers it would have continued the same.
I see it more of a money saving approach and an Apple business decision based on their supply of chips.
Perhaps you are right if talking strictly about CDMA vs GSM. But, as a whole, when you factor in the other problems with the Intel version such as inferior LTE and call performance and the Bluetooth skipping issues posted in another thread, it becomes clear that the Intel version of the phone is not as good or as capable as the Qualcomm one. It's too bad that Apple has chosen to make the better one available in the US only.
Add to that the fact that they do list both models on their website (here in Canada for example), but only sell one version, it becomes even more frustrating.
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That's why you should go to a store in person and tell them that you want to use the phone in the USA. If they don't know and sell it anyway, then it's not fit for purpose (because _your_ purpose was to use it in the USA, and you told them). Most likely, the first person in the store will say "I don't know" and find someone who knows, and then they either get you a phone that will work, or they won't sell you a phone.
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In this case, "premium" meant: The best iPhone you can get for use in the UK and Europe. That's what you got. You needed to ask for "phone that works in the USA". As a rule, you need to ask for what you want, not for what you think will get you what you want.
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It has to be "fit for purpose". But "purpose" is what you were told the phone would do. If you were told it will work in the USA and it doesn't, then it isn't "fit for purpose". If you were not told it will work in the USA, then it is "fit for purpose". Like going to a shop for a printer and buying a black and white printer. If you told them you want to print colour photos then it is not "fit for purpose". If you didn't, then it's fit for purpose.
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Absolutely true. If you were sold a phone as "works in the USA" and it doesn't, then it isn't fit for purpose. If they don't have such a phone for sale, then they shouldn't sell it. It _might_ be possible for an Apple Store in the UK to order a phone from the USA for you.
The SE has the 6 internals hence a Qualcomm radio with both GSM and CDMA radios.
Qualcomm takes a percentage based on the price of the phone instead of a flat fee. No real reason for this but to steal money from phone manufacturers. The radio is the same in all devices. This is why Apple uses Intel chips for most phones worldwide and why Samsung used their own Exynos chip for every market but the US.
So, I live fairly close to the US border (approx. 1 hour). If I go to the US and buy an unlocked, sim-free iPhone from the Apple Store, my understanding is that I will get the better Qualcomm version (model A1661). And, from what I'm reading on Apple's website, AppleCare Plus would be valid in both the US and Canada...
"This Plan is offered and valid only in the fifty states of the United States of America and the District of Columbia and all provinces and territories of Canada..."
Source: http://www.apple.com/legal/sales-support/applecare/applecareplus/docs/applecarepluscaen.html
Seems like when it comes to AppleCare, Apple treats US and Canada as one.
End result is that I can buy the Qualcomm version of the phone that works everywhere and has the better modem and also have warranty coverage in both countries. Is this correct?
"This Plan is offered and valid only in the fifty states of the United States of America and the District of Columbia and all provinces and territories of Canada..."
Source: http://www.apple.com/legal/sales-support/applecare/applecareplus/docs/applecarepluscaen.html
Seems like when it comes to AppleCare, Apple treats US and Canada as one.
End result is that I can buy the Qualcomm version of the phone that works everywhere and has the better modem and also have warranty coverage in both countries. Is this correct?
Many users have the Intel version and do not experience any of those "issues".
They might still sell the same version as the one that the OP got as it is one that "works in the USA", it just simply doesn't support some of the providers that exist in the USA.
[doublepost=1486568229][/doublepost]call public relations 408 974 2042
corp # as well 408 996 1010
Which is still a non issue. The GSM phones work fine in the USA, you'll just be using a US GSM network instead of Verizon. You're literally looking to change the whole course of the earth for ONE CARRIER.
It's rather simpler than that. The SIM-free version should be the one that supports the most carriers/bands/etc. (as it basically is in US).
For a start - this is old news. And secondly, even if you purchased an unlocked phone and it had was a Qualcomm one, you can not take it to Verizon and activate it on a plan there. I've already tried. When I bought my iPhone 6 Plus, I went to a Verizon store and asked to buy a SIM card. On the Verizon 4G SIM activation kit, it says 'Bring your own 4G Verizon phone' (https://www.verizonwireless.com/accessories/4g-sim-activation-kit/) Regardless of the fact you might already have a plan with them, Verizon don't know about the device and it won't register on their network.
I also purchased a 4G iPad Air 2 from Apple and attempted to activate it with a Verizon prepaid data SIM but this didn't work either, again because they checked the IMEI and said it wouldn't work, despite the iPad Air 2 supporting the Verizon LTE/CDMA frequencies. I kicked up a bit of a fuss about it and was advised to fill out a E911 Device Not Compliant form, but as it was only a few days before I was due to fly home, I never bothered.
Just because you asked the staff in store, doesn't mean they know about every carriers practices all over the world. Perhaps you should have researched a little better and you would have found out about the Intel/Qualcomm thing which perhaps may have made you decide a different path.
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