Dual Radio Chip in Verizon iPhone
"iFixit has torn apart the new Verizon iPhone, discovering little of note except for the Qualcomm MDM6600 chip inside. That chipset supports both GSM and CDMA transmission"
There’s a Dual Mode Chip Inside the Verizon iPhone
The Qualcomm MDM6600 chip supports HSPA+ data rates of up to 14.4 Mbps and CDMA2000® 1xEV-DO Rev. A/Rev. B
This is the same chipset as the Droid Pro world phone. It supports both GSM and CDMA—which means that Apple *could* have supported GSM!
Why didn't they? It may be that it was easier to design antennas for a CDMA-only phone-this phone supports two cellular frequency bands, while Apple supports five bands in the GSM version.
Of course, there's no way it could be a real world phone without a SIM card slot.
iPhone 4 Verizon Teardown
There’s a Dual Mode Chip Inside the Verizon iPhone
The Qualcomm MDM6600 chip supports HSPA+ data rates of up to 14.4 Mbps and CDMA2000® 1xEV-DO Rev. A/Rev. B
This is the same chipset as the Droid Pro world phone. It supports both GSM and CDMA—which means that Apple *could* have supported GSM!
Why didn't they? It may be that it was easier to design antennas for a CDMA-only phone-this phone supports two cellular frequency bands, while Apple supports five bands in the GSM version.
Of course, there's no way it could be a real world phone without a SIM card slot.
iPhone 4 Verizon Teardown
Comments
However, since this has been found in the CDMA phone, the issue of additional licensing fees may not apply (especially since it lacks a SIM slot).
Apple has enough bargaining power that Qualcomm would make it worth it for Apple to use their chips.
If they didn't others would be more than happy to provide Apple with dual GSM/CDMA chips.
However, since this has been found in the CDMA phone, the issue of additional licensing fees may not apply (especially since it lacks a SIM slot).