Earlier today, Apple finally started selling unlocked SIM-free versions of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in the U.S.
Some readers did not get what was the big deal as the T-Mobile iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models were unlocked and could be used with any carrier.
They also cost the same starting at $649 for the 16GB iPhone 6 model and $749 for the 16GB iPhone 6 Plus model.
I initially thought that the only difference between the SIM-free unlocked models and the T-Mobile models was that the later came with T-Mobile SIM, which wasn’t a big deal as you could remove the SIM and use a SIM from your preferred carrier.
Looks like I was wrong like many blogs reporting about the unlocked iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launch (thanks to our reader for pointing it out). The T-Mobile and SIM-free unlocked models are different. From Apple’s website:
The unlocked iPhone 6 Plus model is A1524. The T-Mobile iPhone 6 model is A1549. The T-Mobile iPhone 6 Plus model is A1522.
So what does it mean?
The T-Mobile iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus support the following frequencies and bands:
- CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
- UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
- GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
- LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29)
The unlocked iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus support the following frequencies and bands:
- CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
- UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)
- TD-SCDMA 1900 (F), 2000 (A)
- GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
- FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29)
- TD-LTE (Bands 38, 39, 40, 41)
As you can see the major difference (highlighted in bold) between the unlocked and T-Mobile models is the support for TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE Bands, which is required to be able to use the devices on the Chinese carriers such as China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom.
According to Apple’s website, the unlocked models supports many more carriers than the T-Mobile models, which is intriguing as the only difference in the frequencies and bands that I can spot seems to be related to China.
So to conclude, if you prefer to use a local carrier when travelling abroad especially to China then it would be prudent to buy the unlocked iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus models from Apple’s online website rather than the T-Mobile iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus models, especially for LTE.
If you’ve been using the T-Mobile iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus while travelling abroad then it would be great if you can confirm if it works on any other carriers that hasn’t be mentioned below.
| Carriers supported by T-Mobile iPhone 6 (A1549) and iPhone 6 Plus models (A1522) |
United States
Aruba
Bahamas
Brazil
Canada
Cayman Islands
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Dominican Republic
Guam
Mexico
Puerto Rico
Peru
Uruguay
|
| Carriers supported by Unlocked iPhone 6 (A1586) and iPhone 6 Plus models (A1524) |
United States
Angola
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Belgium
Brunei
China
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Greenland
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Japan
Korea
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Mauritius
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Namibia
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Oman
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
UAE
United Kingdom
|
