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.
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors.
Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report.
iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design
The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
Wednesday April 30, 2025 3:59 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is preparing to launch a dramatically thinner iPhone this September, and if recent leaks are anything to go by, the so-called iPhone 17 Air could boast one of the most radical design shifts in recent years.
iPhone 17 Air dummy model alongside iPhone 16 Pro (credit: AppleTrack)
At just 5.5mm thick (excluding a slightly raised camera bump), the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air is expected to become ...
Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold"...
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too.
2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3
Apple didn't update the...
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Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Tuesday April 29, 2025 3:36 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
All upcoming iPhone 17 models will come equipped with 12GB of RAM to support Apple Intelligence, according to the Weibo-based leaker Digital Chat Station.
The claim from the Chinese leaker, who has sources within Apple's supply chain, comes a few days after industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all be equipped with 12GB of RAM.
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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. 
