IPhone – Why does iPhone 5s have so many different models for GSM and CDMA netwrok? Very confused

iphone

I am quite confused about GSM and CDMA models of iPhone 5s.

Please read this in Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_5S:

Connectivityof iPhone 5S

List All models:

GSM model (A1533)
LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25: 2100, 1900, 1800, AWS, 850, 900, 700c, 700b, 800 MHz, 800 DD).

CDMA model (A1533)
UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (1700/2100 MHz), CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz), (except China model:)LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 19, 20, 25: 2100, 1900, 1800, AWS, 850, 900, 700c, 700b, 800 MHz, 800 DD).

CDMA model (A1453)
UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (1700/2100 MHz), CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz), LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26: 2100, 1900, 1800, AWS, 850, 900, 700c, 700b, 800 MHz, 800 DD).

GSM model (A1457)
LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20: 2100, 1900, 1800, 850, 2600, 900 MHz, 800 DD).

GSM model (A1518)
TDD-LTE, TD-SCDMA[6]

GSM model (A1528)
LTE (unofficial)

GSM model (A1530)
LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 38, 39, 40: 2100, 1900, 1800, 850, 2600, 900 MHz, 800 DD, TD 2600, 1900, 2300), (with software operator version China Mobile 15.6 or above:) TD-SCDMA

Why doesn't Apple make iPhone 5s to be "world phone" like iPhone 4s. World phone means it can use for any network in the world whether CDMA or GSM.

If they can't make Worl Phone, then at least they should create 2 models only. 1 for GSM & 1 for CDMA.

However, surprisingly, iPhone 5s has so many different models. It has 5 different models for GSM?
so
Does that also mean 5 different iphone 5s with 5 different hardwares?

Likewise, it has 2 different models for CDMA.

Why it has so many different models for the same network. Before that they only have 1 or 2 or max 3 models (iPhone 5).

The big question.

What if you buy the wrong model (even for the same network)? For example, I am a user & I just roughly know that my carrier using GSM, then:

How do I know which model (A1533, A1457, A1518, A1528, A1530) to chose?

Very confused? or Apple is trying to confuse the ones who buy the unlocked phone so that they can make more $$ from contract with carrier?

How to make sure I buy the right one.

Best Answer

In a word, the problem is 4G. There are simply too many different 4G frequency bands for any one phone to support them all -- the iPhone 4s doesn't support 4G at all, and so it doesn't have this problem. The iPhone 5s has to have different models that support the frequencies used in different parts of the world.

If you don't care about 4G and just want GSM or CDMA, then this shouldn't matter to you. You can just buy any GSM or CDMA model, and it will work just as well as the iPhone 4s GSM or CDMA model.

If you do care about 4G, then look at this page and pick the model that supports the 4G network that you plan to use it on.

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