Model A1524 not support CDMA

Hi Ryp_Tang:

I think what that is saying is that there are actually at least 2 models of the A1524. One that Apple created to work on as many networks worldwide as possible, and one where they took that phone and added some old CDMA circuits specifically for Sprint, US Cellular, and C Spire. These are old circuits and all networks in the US are trying to get off of CDMA. Sprint for example is rolling out 4G over LTE and will eventually turn off all their CDMA. I believe the special version of the phone with these CDMA bands on it can only be bought LOCKED from Sprint, US Cellular, and C Spire. According to the new federal law, the carriers have to unlock the phones if you fully complete the contract. By most people's definitions of that, buying the phone for full price from them SHOULD fully satisfy that requirement so they should then need to unlock the phone. However, US networks have been playing the game of doing everything they are allowed to do to avoid letting the customer have choice in their network that it seems none of these 3 providers are allowing customers to pay them full price for the phone now! A not so sneaky attempt to hold on to their old ways even after this Federal law has now gone into effect. I'd love to be proven wrong on this and have someone tell me they've been able to buy an A1524 for FULL PRICE from one of these 3 networks that is LOCKED or from Apple LOCKED or UNLOCKED. Sprint's International team have already told me they would unlock my phone if I can get anyone at Sprint to see me one. When they said that, they thought that would be easy but telesales and Sprint's website both seem to block you from buying for full price now.

I think your safest bet is to buy from Apple and forgo these CDMA bands. They are terribly inefficient / slow and being phased out anyway. I do understand that you want your phone to have as many bands as possible - and I felt that way too until I remembered how painful it is to have to deal with the network providers and how nice it is to deal with Apple. Even if you get one of these A1524 (with additional CDMA bands), you will probably have some difficulty in getting it fully unlocked (the GSM portion is easy to unlock for international use but the domestic unlock is a bit involved and problematic according to Sprint's international team), plus if you want Apple to support it, they have a like-for-like swap policy so if your phone would ever need to be swapped, you may be forced again to deal with the network provider you bought it from because Apple may not carry any of the Unlocked ones with these extra bands.

For a few more details, check this link out: http://www.techwalls.com/differences-between-iphone-6-6-plus-models/

PS - if anyone finds a place to buy the A1524 from Unlocked in the US, please let us know. I'll be over there for several weeks and would very much like to buy one. Or if you find it from Sprint where I could buy it for Full price but Locked and Contract Free, I'd be happy to do that too (since I trust Sprint's international team to give it their best effort to unlock the domestic side and the international side is easy to unlock and what I need more anyway). I heard rumors that the Apple Store on 5th Avenue in New York can get the A1524 (but not the Sprint one - the one the UK and Singapore sells without those extra old CDMA bands) Unlocked for full price. I would love to be able to get there and find out but there won't be enough time on my next US visit.

Hope that helps,

Kevin Q.

ryo_tang wrote:

Does it mean this Hong Kong A1524 has blocked CDMA network? Is it a permanent disable by hardware or in a software way? If it is software way, can CDMA be enabled?

Unlocked phones don't work on CDMA networks. In order to get a phone that works on a given CDMA network, you'll need to purchase a phone from that carrier.

Hi Meg -

I'm not so sure about that. While it is more rare to buy an unlocked model A1524 in the US, if you do, you will not restricted from using it on a CDMA network. I am in the process of doing just that by going to an Apple store in the US and buying the Sprint version of the iPhone 6 plus (which is the model A1524) for full price. The last part of that "for full price" - i.e. $949.00 for the 128 GB version - is what assures me that it is an unlocked iPhone. Apple assured me they would not lock it if I pay full price and that it will otherwise be identical to the phone Sprint sells. Sprint has assured me that if I ever get service with them again, even short term service, this unlocked phone will fully work on their network (including the CDMA functionality). The question ryo_tang is really asking here that I can't answer is whether the model A1524 that Apple sells in Hong Kong has these CDMA bands available in the phone or not (i.e. whether it's the identical phone to the one I can buy in the US or UK). My guess in knowing how Apple prefers to keep the total number of models it manufactures down to an absolute minimum (as this helps in stocking and service if they ever need to swap out a phone when for example you're in a different country to where you bought it from and they determine you need a swap), is that he would be fine and it would work on CDMA networks - but the only way you could tell this for sure would be to look at the box before you buy it and see if it lists "CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz)" in it's list of supported bands or not. If it does, I'd wager to bet that you'll be OK with it on CDMA networks in the same way anyone buying a locked version of that phone from the network themselves would be. You would, of course, need service with a network provider still using CDMA for any of that to matter (*see PS below on that).

Hope that helps,

Kevin Q.

* PS - Ryo_Tang: Unless you have a very specific reason why you think you'll need CDMA, I wouldn't lose too much sleep over this. Nearly every network provider in the world who has CDMA coverage is quickly overlapping it with more modern technology (like LTE) and will over time turn it all off. CDMA will never take anyone to 4G, and many would argue it won't even get them to 3G 🙂. It's an old outdated technology that is quickly going away. Since your phone has all the other bands of GSM, UMTS,... and LTE, and I can't imagine a situation where you would be in a coverage area with only CDMA and no better/faster bands on your phone available, I think it would be a pretty rare situation where you phone would ever fail back down to using CDMA if your phone has it anyway - and will continue to get more and more rare over the coming months as networks continue to improve their technologies.

Kevin Quincey wrote:

Hi Meg -

I'm not so sure about that. While it is more rare to buy an unlocked model A1524 in the US, if you do, you will not restricted from using it on a CDMA network.

You may not be sure but I am. "Locked" and "unlocked" have no meaning in the CDMA world. Information on that particular phone must be loaded into the carrier's system before the phone can be activated. Most carriers will not do that on phones that weren't sold for their networks. It's not a question of frequencies.

I'm in the same boat. When I put in the UIM from my carrier, China Telecom, it works for about 20 seconds... Then it appears it can not register to the CDMA network and is kicked off. I believe this has something to do with MEID registration. Not sure what options we have, but a little upset that Apple would play games like this and disable CDMA band. Any ideas? have you had any luck?

Hokiecjb97 wrote:

but a little upset that Apple would play games like this and disable CDMA band. Any ideas? have you had any luck?

Apple is not playing any games. The phone you have is not supported by the carrier you've chosen. If the carrier is not willing to add the phone to its equipment database, there's not much Apple can do about that. Get a phone that works on that carrier or, conversely, a carrier that works with the phone you have.

Hi, I am traveling to US over Christmas, I have an iPhone 6 plus model A1524 bought in Russia, so for russian market. My question is on which US carrier can I use my phone while in US. do I have buy a Sprint cerrier card or I can use other networks?

The only supported GSM carriers in the US are AT&T and Verizon. Sprint is a CDMA carrier. You can not use that phone on sprint.

TThank you. What about t-mobile? its also a gsm network as I understand

KiltedTim wrote:

The only supported GSM carriers in the US are AT&T and Verizon. Sprint is a CDMA carrier. You can not use that phone on sprint.

Don't you mean AT&T and TMobile? If Verizon converted to GSM, I missed the memo. 😉

Their LTE network is GSM. But then again so is Sprint's.

SSorry. You're right. I'm gonna blame it on the pain meds. 😝

Works for me.

KiltedTim wrote:

SSorry. You're right. I'm gonna blame it on the pain meds. 😝

Seems like a very reasonable thing to do. I hope they're working as intended and you're doing well.

deggie wrote:

Their LTE network is GSM. But then again so is Sprint's.

Very true. However, as their Voice over LTE is still in a sort of beta stage, I think they're stuck with the CDMA for a while longer.