{"id":7124,"date":"2016-10-20T14:57:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T21:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.hellotech.com\/?p=7124"},"modified":"2021-06-15T15:40:49","modified_gmt":"2021-06-15T22:40:49","slug":"sim-free-iphone-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/sim-free-iphone-7","title":{"rendered":"Tip: A SIM-Free iPhone 7 Offers You More Flexibility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">Itching to get your hands on an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus? It turns out that doing so isn\u2019t as straightforward as buying the phone from <\/span><em><span class=\"tm9\">any<\/span><\/em><span class=\"tm8\"> of the country\u2019s top wireless carriers. Now, you have to choose which of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/cell-phone-companies\/\"><em>Big 4<\/em> cell phone companies<\/a><\/span><span class=\"tm8\">&nbsp;you\u2019ll be getting your iPhone from because it will determine how flexible your device can get. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">Apple has revealed that not all iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus supports both the CDMA and GSM network. In not-so-subtle fine print, the company confirms only iPhone 7s bought from Sprint and Verizon will support both wireless standards.<\/span><span class=\"tm8\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">This means that if you buy the device from Apple\u2019s website and choose T-Mobile as your carrier, you won\u2019t be able to pair it with Sprint, Verizon, or any other CDMA network when your mobile contract ends<\/span><span class=\"tm11\">\u2014<\/span><span class=\"tm8\">regardless of whether you had your phone unlocked by then. On the contrary, anyone who selects Verizon or Sprint as their carrier can use their iPhone 7\/iPhone 7 Plus on any other GSM or CDMA network. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">Curiously, this was of no concern at all to iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S Plus as both supported the two wireless spectra.<\/span><span class=\"tm8\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-is-that-a-big-deal\">Is That a Big Deal?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><em><span class=\"tm9\">YES!<\/span><\/em><span class=\"tm8\">&nbsp;As a mobile consumer, it\u2019s natural to want the most number of options at any given time. If your current carrier\u2019s coverage proves unsatisfactory, you\u2019d logically want to switch over to a new, supposedly better service provider. With some iPhone 7 models physically unable to switch to other companies, you could get begrudgingly stuck with one carrier. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">In addition, the lack of CDMA support in AT&amp;T and T-Mobile iPhone 7s will mean that you won\u2019t be able to connect to CDMA wireless networks in other countries <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/international-phone-plan\/\">when you travel abroad<\/a>. Again, we can\u2019t emphasize enough the importance of having your options open in such cases.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-why-is-this-happening\">Why Is This Happening?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">Before we begin speculating on what\u2019s going on, it\u2019s worth noting that Apple doesn\u2019t actually make the modems<\/span><span class=\"tm11\">\u2014<\/span><span class=\"tm8\">the components responsible for connecting a device to the Internet<\/span><span class=\"tm11\">\u2014<\/span><span class=\"tm8\">for its iPhone line. It\u2019s an open secret that they are supplied by third parties like Qualcomm and Intel.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">Rumors are circulating that Sprint\u2019s and Verizon\u2019s iPhone 7s may be running the X12 from Qualcomm and that the models from AT&amp;T and T-Mobile are using Intel\u2019s XMM7360 modems. As it turns out, Intel\u2019s components don\u2019t support the CDMA standard. But why go through the hassle of getting components from two different manufacturers?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">Apple may be ordering modems from two competing brands so it can enjoy lower prices and gain better negotiating power in future deals. This practice is common among tech firms and its known as \u201cdual sourcing\u201d.<\/span><span class=\"tm8\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-more-bad-news\">More Bad News<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">Besides the lack of support for CDMA, the iPhone 7s with Intel modems (those from AT&amp;T, T-Mobile) doesn\u2019t support state-of-the-art network features like the 256 QAM and the 4&#215;4 MIMO. Meanwhile, the iPhone 7s having Qualcomm\u2019s X12 modems (from Sprint, Verizon) don\u2019t do the same out of the box, but they can support the 256 QAM after a software upgrade. Both models, however, aren\u2019t capable of supporting the 4&#215;4 MIMO. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">Why iPhone 7\u2019s lack of support for 256 QAM and 4&#215;4 MIMO is a big deal, you may ask? Well, these network features make download and upload speeds faster for any device supporting them. 256 QAM essentially allows a handset to get more data across in one radio pulse while 4&#215;4 MIMO enables access to more antennas so network coverage on a device can be more reliable.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">So while the iPhone 7 may definitely be faster than its predecessors, it may not achieve the same network speeds as phones that support the two latest network features. Among the few that do are the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.<\/span><span class=\"tm8\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-silver-lining\">The Silver Lining<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">The best way to go when you wish to be afforded maximum flexibility with your iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus is to purchase an unlocked, SIM-free model from the Apple Store. That, or you could just get the Sprint or Verizon models, though, there could be caveats if you\u2019re currently subscribed to any rival carriers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tm6 Normal tm7\"><span class=\"tm8\">SIM-free versions of the iPhone 7s aren\u2019t associated with any carrier so they readily work with different wireless networks and use both CDMA and GSM standards, too.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Itching to get your hands on an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus? It turns out that doing so isn\u2019t as straightforward as buying the phone from any of the country\u2019s top wireless carriers. Now, you have to choose which of the Big 4 cell phone companies&nbsp;you\u2019ll be getting your iPhone from because it will determine how flexible your device can get. Apple has revealed that not all iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus supports both the CDMA and GSM [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7131,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17582,17587,17580],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mobile","category-news","category-tips-and-tricks"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.10 (Yoast SEO v20.10) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Tip: A SIM-Free iPhone 7 Offers You More Flexibility - The Plug - HelloTech<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Itching to get your hands on an iPhone 7? Turns out that doing so isn\u2019t as straightforward as buying the phone from any of the top wireless carriers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hellotech.com\/blog\/sim-free-iphone-7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tip: A SIM-Free iPhone 7 Offers You More Flexibility - The Plug - HelloTech\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Itching to get your hands on an iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus? 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