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mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
^^ I do think that, if Apple is going to release a single handset that only works on one standard worldwide, it will almost certainly be GSM.... with most other standards in most places in the world, even if they do sell the phone unlocked, what would the point be? If you get an unlocked CDMA phone, it's not like there's a plethora of CDMA operators to chose from.

And of course it may end up being the MVNO thing....

Or were you hoping that Apple would market an MVNO that used Verizon's towers and that you would be able to get an unlocking flash to use the phone on Verizon's own network?
 

rogersmj

macrumors 68020
Sep 10, 2006
2,161
1
Indianapolis, IN
This is news to anyone? What global manufacturer in their right mind would release a hot item like the iPhone on CDMA?? That limits you to something like 10% of the world's cellular phone base. Not to mention that the chips and circuitry for CDMA are more complex and physically take up more space than their GSM counterparts, which is one of the many reasons why phones initially designed for GSM take so long to get "ported" to CDMA. CDMA sucks and needs to die. But if you like being locked into one provider with your phone, and not traveling outside of the country, and enjoy the most prickish, unhelpful, rude, and idiotic customer service ever, then by all means stay with Verizon. I do like their data speeds though...but the 7.1Mbps UMTS or whatever the GSM-based one is called will kick its butt.
 

imacintel

macrumors 68000
Mar 12, 2006
1,581
0
I honestly don't think it would be worth it to switch providers just to get an iPhone. If Apple only gives iPhone to expensive providers...that is a confirmed fact that it isnt worth it.
 

SpankyPenzaanz

macrumors 6502a
Sep 4, 2006
705
0
This is news to anyone? What global manufacturer in their right mind would release a hot item like the iPhone on CDMA?? That limits you to something like 10% of the world's cellular phone base. Not to mention that the chips and circuitry for CDMA are more complex and physically take up more space than their GSM counterparts, which is one of the many reasons why phones initially designed for GSM take so long to get "ported" to CDMA. CDMA sucks and needs to die. But if you like being locked into one provider with your phone, and not traveling outside of the country, and enjoy the most prickish, unhelpful, rude, and idiotic customer service ever, then by all means stay with Verizon. I do like their data speeds though...but the 7.1Mbps UMTS or whatever the GSM-based one is called will kick its butt.

I concur
 

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,932
2,151
Lard
This is news to anyone? What global manufacturer in their right mind would release a hot item like the iPhone on CDMA?? That limits you to something like 10% of the world's cellular phone base. Not to mention that the chips and circuitry for CDMA are more complex and physically take up more space than their GSM counterparts, which is one of the many reasons why phones initially designed for GSM take so long to get "ported" to CDMA. CDMA sucks and needs to die. But if you like being locked into one provider with your phone, and not traveling outside of the country, and enjoy the most prickish, unhelpful, rude, and idiotic customer service ever, then by all means stay with Verizon. I do like their data speeds though...but the 7.1Mbps UMTS or whatever the GSM-based one is called will kick its butt.

Why is it assumed that the iPhone will be available worldwide or that it has to have GSM everywhere to do that?

Verizon might not be so good but Sprint is so good that I don't find a good reason to change from CDMA phones.

I don't plan to pay high roaming charges in another country. I'll buy a prepaid phone there.

7.1 Mbps sounds good but the recent note that EVDO will be transitioned from the current maximum of 3.6 Mbps (Rev. A) to a maximum of 280 Mbps in 2008 sounds a bit more dramatic.

Since there is no real information on iPhone, including whether there will be one, we'll have to wait, but it's not good to assume anything where Apple is concerned.
 

theman5725

macrumors 6502
Aug 2, 2006
388
0
:(

I'm currently locked into a Verizon contract so I don't see myself switching to the iPhone if it's released anytime soon...
 

CDailey

macrumors regular
Nov 13, 2006
159
0
Florida
It better be a quadband GSM phone. I love my Sony Ericsson K750i, but it doesn't always pick up a signal here.
 

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,610
1,746
Redondo Beach, California
The Apple phone will be different. It will do different tings that you can't do with another phone. This will require Apple to run it's own (virtual) network. Apple will be a MVNO. So there will not be the option to keep your current service and use an Apple iPhone.
 
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