4 ms·

It might be a technological issue: standards (GSM, CDMA) and allowed frequencies vary a lot from country to country. The chip in this Apple Watch might be too s

by Xixi 9y ago

It might be a technological issue: standards (GSM, CDMA) and allowed frequencies vary a lot from country to country. The chip in this Apple Watch might be too specific? If it's a purely contractual issue, it should be gone soon (for a fee): too much money to be made from international roaming.

8ytecoder 9y ago
Unlikely, the chips in iPhones have been carrier neutral for at least a couple of generations now.
- Xixi 9y ago
  iPhones are bigger and have more power: the chip in the Apple Watch might be different. It's just an hypothesis.
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    They don't seem to list regional models for the bands: https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/ https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/
- masklinn 9y ago
  That's not quite true, Japan has special 7 models (A1779 and A1785) with support for LTE bands 11 and 21 as well as FeliCa. And the iPhone 6 had the A1633 and A1634 only sold by and for AT&T which supported the LTE band 30 where models A1687 and A1688 did not.
- larkost 9y ago
  The chips maybe, but the antennas still need to provide the right bands: https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ There is some additionally complexity in that many of these can speak GSM, so have some ability to work in degraded modes. And then another round of complexity in that the CDMA versions usually can be unlocked into GSM mode, losing the CDMA functionality but allowing for more general use (but not generally 4G).
masklinn 9y ago
> allowed frequencies vary a lot from country to country They do, but a few "roaming" bands are well-supported worlwide, mostly aside from the Americas and especially the US * LTE bands 1 and 3 will cover Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania, but North and Latin america use LTE bands 2 and 4 instead. * band 7 is well supported in latin america, europe, asia, oceania and canada but not africa or the US * band 28 is well supported in latin america, asia and oceania but not NA, europe or africa 7 and 28 are considered the best "global roaming" bands right now, and 1 and 3 ideal for ITU 1 and 3 (basically anywhere outside the americas)
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- Xixi 9y ago
  Per https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/ https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/ it's either 2 and 4, or 1 and 3 (and 7). The iPhone 8 supports all [1]. That would confirm that the Apple Watch uses more specialized cellular chips. [1] https://www.apple.com/iphone-8/specs/ https://www.apple.com/iphone-8/specs/

by Xixi 9y ago

8ytecoder 9y ago

Unlikely, the chips in iPhones have been carrier neutral for at least a couple of generations now.

Xixi 9y ago
iPhones are bigger and have more power: the chip in the Apple Watch might be different. It's just an hypothesis.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  They don't seem to list regional models for the bands: https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/ https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/
masklinn 9y ago
That's not quite true, Japan has special 7 models (A1779 and A1785) with support for LTE bands 11 and 21 as well as FeliCa. And the iPhone 6 had the A1633 and A1634 only sold by and for AT&T which supported the LTE band 30 where models A1687 and A1688 did not.
larkost 9y ago
The chips maybe, but the antennas still need to provide the right bands: https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ There is some additionally complexity in that many of these can speak GSM, so have some ability to work in degraded modes. And then another round of complexity in that the CDMA versions usually can be unlocked into GSM mode, losing the CDMA functionality but allowing for more general use (but not generally 4G).

masklinn 9y ago

> allowed frequencies vary a lot from country to country They do, but a few "roaming" bands are well-supported worlwide, mostly aside from the Americas and especially the US * LTE bands 1 and 3 will cover Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania, but North and Latin america use LTE bands 2 and 4 instead. * band 7 is well supported in latin america, europe, asia, oceania and canada but not africa or the US * band 28 is well supported in latin america, asia and oceania but not NA, europe or africa 7 and 28 are considered the best "global roaming" bands right now, and 1 and 3 ideal for ITU 1 and 3 (basically anywhere outside the americas)

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Xixi 9y ago
Per https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/ https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/ it's either 2 and 4, or 1 and 3 (and 7). The iPhone 8 supports all [1]. That would confirm that the Apple Watch uses more specialized cellular chips. [1] https://www.apple.com/iphone-8/specs/ https://www.apple.com/iphone-8/specs/