14 DAY TRIAL // Evidence supporting beliefs that iPhone 5 will serve as a “world phone” continues to mount with the latest iFixit teardown revealing that Apple already uses dual-mode chips in the CDMA variant of the iPhone 4.
Developed specifically for Verizon’s network, the CDMA iPhone 4 is set to become physically available (in Apple and Verizon stores) in a couple of days.
Some of those who’ve pre-ordered their Verizon iPhone 4 have already received their units, and so has the famous iFixit repair shop, notorious for its teardowns and in-depth analysis of the hardware.
Their CDMA iPhone 4 teardown revealed that, despite being a CDMA-only phone, the iPhone 4 has support for both CDMA and GSM signals, via the Qualcomm MDM6600 chip which, according to the tinkerers, “supports HSPA+ data rates of up to 14.4 Mbps and CDMA2000® 1xEV-DO Rev. A/Rev. B”.
The company making a living selling repair kits offers a link to the chip’s data sheet for those who want more information.
The repair shop adds a few extra notes before proceeding to analyze other parts.
For example, the Qualcomm MDM6600 is allegedly the same chipset as the Droid Pro world phone.
“It supports both GSM and CDMA—which means that Apple could have supported GSM!” the repair shop stresses.
“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,” the analysis reads.
The shop concludes, noting that Apple’s CDMA iPhone 4 cannot be referred to as a "world phone" without a SIM card slot, despite their finding of the dual-mode chip inside the chassis.
Still, this only adds as evidence that a next-generation iPhone 5 will support both cellular standards.
For the full teardown of the CDMA (Verizon) iPhone 4, visit iFixit here.