China Telecom iPhone 6 Ad Suggests Simplified Model Lineup for Different Carrier Technologies

According to a Sina News report (via ZDNet), China Telecom this week briefly announced plans to sell an unlocked version of the iPhone 6 in order to compete with rival carriers. The Sina report sources a Weibo post from China Telecom's Shanghai office that was posted earlier this week and later deleted.

The move suggests Apple is planning to sell a version of the iPhone 6 that will support all wireless networks in the country, including dual 4G (TDD-LTE and FDD-LTE), WCDMA, CDMA2000, GSM, and CDMA1X. This opens up LTE to China Telecom subscribers and makes the country's number three carrier more competitive with its bigger rivals China Unicom and China Mobile.

Apple currently sells three different models each of the iPhone 5s and 5c in China in order to accommodate the different technologies used by the country's carriers. But with updated modem and antenna technology for the iPhone 6, Apple may be able to streamline its model lineup to more efficiently support the various carrier technologies.

china-telecom-iphone6-ad
As part of its advertisement, China Telecom used an iPhone 6 rendering from a Behance gallery posted early last month by Tomas Moyano and Nicolas Aichino. The renderings have been fairly popular around the web, including in our own stories, but differ from most recent leaks in some aspects such as omitting a protruding camera ring and showing rear shells featuring different colors at top and bottom.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 6 at a press event to be held in early September. The handset may include larger 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch display options, a faster A8 processor, an improved iSight camera and a new Touch ID sensor. Sales of the 4.7-inch version are expected to begin at the end of September, with the 5.5-inch model launching either alongside or up to several months later than the smaller model.

Tag: Weibo
Related Forum: iPhone

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Top Rated Comments

Steviejobz Avatar
141 months ago
Really hope these are the actual phones. Flush camera and black lines on the black phone.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AdonisSMU Avatar
141 months ago
They look beautiful. WOW!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dilster3k Avatar
141 months ago
Is it a design choice that the plastic antenna covers don't match in color? Bugs me it's 2014 and they choose not to color match the plastic with the aluminum. Felt the same way with the 2007 iPhone black plastic. :(

Yeah no... You can't really match the textured look of anodised aluminium with plastic. What they're doing is the best way to go and is stylish, matching the colours would make it look tacky.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kupkakez Avatar
141 months ago
Those renders actually look good. I'd be pleased if the iPhone 6 looks like that!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jay42 Avatar
141 months ago
Antenna breaks are so much thinner! The thick bands always bothered me in the previous "leaked" photos. This seems more Apple.

EDIT: never mind, they're meaningless renderings.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dilster3k Avatar
141 months ago
They look beautiful. WOW!

Really? They're fake renderings anyway.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)