Apple to Make Three Versions of iPhone 5

Bringing LTE to the iPhone 5 means that Apple will be releasing not one, but three versions of the handset.

 

LTE networks vary throughout the world. If Apple wants the iPhone to be LTE everywhere, it has to create devices specifically to run different regions and carriers.

 

What that boils down to: three different phones, each one supporting different LTE bands.

 

Historically, Apple has always tried to create a single iPhone. It strayed from that when it released the CDMA version of the iPhone 4, but came back to a single global model with the release of the iPhone 4S.

 

LTE is a different story than HSPA+, however, and requires the phones to be different.

 

As GigaOm points out, one of the iPhone 5 models is targeted specifically toward AT&T, while the other supports primarily Asian carriers.

 

Both also will work in various other networks, scattered around the world.

 

The CDMA version of the phone appears to be the most “global” version, offering support for most LTE bands including Europe’s 4G network and global GSM and HSPA+ frequencies in addition to Verizon and Sprint.

 

The three models are as follows:

 

GSM model A1428*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 4 and 17)

CDMA model A1429*: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz); UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)

GSM model A1429*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5)

Europe’s 2.6 GHz and 800 MHz bands aren’t supported by any of the three phones, which means if European carriers choose to use the bands for LTE when they become available in 2013, they’ll likely have to wait for the next version of the iPhone for support.

 

One of the models does support 1800 MHz bands, which are used by several Europan carriers.