09-24-2015, 02:48 AM
Honestly, it's hard to keep up with this stuff, so don't take what I say as gospel. Even more so now that the industry is moving away (albeit slowly) from the old carrier subsidy model, and locked phones.
Heck, even Verizon has loosened their policies and will now accept "compatible" non-Verizon phones onto their network.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/nso/enterDeviceId.do?&zipRdr=y
With the 6, Apple didn't officially release an unlocked model until months after the introduction. That didn't stop people from buying carrier branded models which were unofficially the same thing.
Despite the changes, remanants of the old model still remain, like not being able to order an unbranded phone, at least initially, or making carrier activation a requirement for their interest-free payment program. But perhaps once supply catches up with demand, that will no longer be a requirement.
The prudent thing to do is to let the phones hit the streets, and let the early adopters clarify the situation. Right now, we can only surmise on paper. Band 30 is definitely a difference in terms of "GSM model" support, but we can only assume that the CDMA radios in the "GSM" models aren't disabled. Apple has already revised their spec page once to bring it in line with the FCC docuements.
It would be a whole lot easier if Apple offered one universal model for sale, and then said "choose your carrier independently, we want nothing to do with that," but that day hasn't come yet, at least in the U.S.
Heck, even Verizon has loosened their policies and will now accept "compatible" non-Verizon phones onto their network.
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/nso/enterDeviceId.do?&zipRdr=y
With the 6, Apple didn't officially release an unlocked model until months after the introduction. That didn't stop people from buying carrier branded models which were unofficially the same thing.
Despite the changes, remanants of the old model still remain, like not being able to order an unbranded phone, at least initially, or making carrier activation a requirement for their interest-free payment program. But perhaps once supply catches up with demand, that will no longer be a requirement.
The prudent thing to do is to let the phones hit the streets, and let the early adopters clarify the situation. Right now, we can only surmise on paper. Band 30 is definitely a difference in terms of "GSM model" support, but we can only assume that the CDMA radios in the "GSM" models aren't disabled. Apple has already revised their spec page once to bring it in line with the FCC docuements.
It would be a whole lot easier if Apple offered one universal model for sale, and then said "choose your carrier independently, we want nothing to do with that," but that day hasn't come yet, at least in the U.S.