Macworld reveals an interesting fact about the CDMA iPhone 4Ss that wasn't immediately obvious. The Sprint CDMA iPhone 4S comes GSM-unlocked, while the Verizon CDMA iPhone 4S can be unlocked by request after 60 days.
Sprint plans to sell the iPhone 4S with its micro-SIM slot unlocked; Verizon’s will be initially locked, but if you’ve been a customer in good standing for 60 days, you can call Verizon and ask for an “international unlock.” (A Verizon spokesperson told me that this is Verizon’s standard policy for all world phones—it’s just the first time it’s manifested itself on an iPhone.)
This is welcome news to those looking to travel internationally. In those situations, customers can buy a local SIM card to use during travel, eliminating costly roaming charges.
Macworld does a great job breaking down the advantages and disadvantages of world roaming on the various U.S. carriers. AT&T iPhone 4Ss will apparently still come locked.
Sprint and Verizon iPhone 4Ss should start arriving on Friday, October 14th.
Wednesday September 24, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by Juli Clover
With the iPhone 15 series, I did an experiment and kept my iPhone's Charge Limit set at 80 percent for an entire year. It provided an interesting look at the impact of charge limits on battery longevity, so I decided to repeat it for the iPhone 16 line.
Since September 2024, my iPhone 16 Pro Max has been limited to an 80 percent charge, with no cheating. As of today, my battery's maximum...
Wednesday September 24, 2025 7:20 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's annual "Back to School" promotion for students ends soon, so act fast if you want to score free AirPods with the purchase of an eligible new Mac or iPad.
Until Tuesday, September 30, college students and qualifying educational staff in the U.S. can receive free AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. This is a $179 value.
...
Wednesday September 24, 2025 10:22 am PDT by Juli Clover
The marks on the iPhone 17 Pro models that people have noticed at Apple retail stores are caused by the chargers that Apple uses, Apple confirmed today.
Apple told 9to5Mac that worn MagSafe charging stands in stores are causing marks on the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Apple says that the marks are not scratches, and are instead material transfer from the stand to the phone. The...
Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead.
Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors.
Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about.
New Apple Intelligence Languages
Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese.
AirPo...
Tuesday September 23, 2025 1:06 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Digital ID, the iOS 26 feature that lets U.S. passport holders add their passports to the Wallet app, is coming later in 2025, Apple confirmed today.
Apple updated the release timing wording of Digital ID on its iOS 26 features page. "Digital ID will be coming later this year with US passports only," it reads.
Prior to today, the footnote for the feature said "Digital ID will be available ...
Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W.
The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max
61W USB-C Power Adapter
67W USB-C Power Adapter
70W USB-C Power Adapter
96W USB-C Power Adapter
140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device.
Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors.
Likely Features
N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7
Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Wednesday September 24, 2025 8:43 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple this month released macOS Tahoe, the latest version of the company's Mac operating system. macOS Tahoe 26 adopts Apple's new Liquid Glass design along with new customizations, a new Phone app, and updated capabilities across the platform.
In this article, we've selected 50 new features and lesser-known changes that are worth checking out if you're upgrading. What do you think of...
The days when CDMA iPhone users were at a disadvantage when traveling internationally are long behind us. As just discovered by Macworld, the iPhone 4S is even more of a worldphone than we originally thought.
According to them, not only can your Sprint or Verizon CDMA iPhone be used internationally on GSM networks, but the SIM slot that it comes with is actually unlocked, meaning you can pop in any SIM you want. Thats right, when youre traveling to other GSM countries, youll be able to buy a local micro-SIM card (or a normal one and cut it), and pop it into your iPhone 4S.
While Sprint will be making this a standard, Verizon will still be locking the iPhone 4S SIM slot for new users, and will only grant what they call international unlock for folks whove been good and around for at least 60 days.
The big unknown, of course, is whether you could actually pop an AT&T micro-SIM into such a device. Weve tried to find out, but havent been able to figure that out yet. If its the case, that would be a very interesting feature. After all, since youre paying for the contract, why should the carrier prevent you from doing what you want with the phone, right? But thats a whole other debate.
There's a big difference.
Any cellphone can be unlocked in the past 4+ years but the iphone here. So I wouldnt be surprised if our US money hungry carriers wouldnt lock it to their own GSM sims only.
A major reason to use GSM is to be able to swap in local SIMs on long trips.
Verizon has always unlocked the GSM side of their World Phones for customers in good standing. There's no reason to think they would change in this case.
AT&T, like about half the world's GSM carriers, refuses to unlock the iPhones they sell. Worse, they won't even unlock it after it's paid off. They don't want their users jumping to carriers like T-Mobile.
Verizon and Sprint is no better in that regard, of course. They don't let the other's CDMA phones onto their network, for the same reason: they don't want to make it too easy to jump carriers.
Macworld reveals an interesting fact about the CDMA iPhone 4Ss that wasn't immediately obvious. The Sprint CDMA iPhone 4S comes GSM-unlocked, while the Verizon CDMA iPhone 4S can be unlocked by request after 60 days. 
