Will a European or Asian market iphone 14 work in the USA?

david9962000

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Feb 18, 2012
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I'm going to Europe & Asia soon and I would like to pick up an unlocked iphone 14 there since they still have a physical sim card and esim just like the iphone 12 & iphone 13.

Will the European or Asian Iphone 14 work on USA 5G? at&t or T-Mobile.

Thank you.
 

EdwinG

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Mar 10, 2012
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Hi,

Comparing the different lists from Apple, AT&T and T-Mobile, it seems that the iPhone 14 might work on AT&T’s 5G network. The Canadian iPhone 14 also seems to support the T-Mobile frequencies.

In any situation, a foreign iPhone will not support the mmWave (or “ultra-wide band”) frequencies. That feature is, as far as I understand, exclusive to USA models.

Note that I have never tested such a scenario and it is theoretically possible.

Apple frequency band list: https://www.apple.com/ca/iphone/cellular/#mn_p
T-Mobile frequency band list: https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/t-mobile-network
AT&T: https://beebom.com/list-5g-bands-us-verizon-att-sprint-t-mobile/ (They don’t seem to list it on their website)
 

Up_And_Away

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Aug 27, 2021
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Good question, Ed7789 gave as good an answer as I can find.
Just an opinion, It seems like it would since you can use the esim function when you’re in the USA. My only concern would be of any geographic regulatory issues. IPhones made for the USA versus the EU (or individual countries within) may have variations to conform to different regulatory requirements. I think it unlikely yet the USA big 3 carriers could be in or eventually end up in a position to not activate an iPhone made for the EU. Again I think it unlikely but certainly within the realm of possible. In that case as long as you’re near WiFi you don’t necessarily need a cellular connection:)
 

FFR

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You could, but you would have an iPhone that would be missing 4g and 5g bands and that ultimately would affect the cellular and data connection to US carriers resulting in a sub par user experience.

As a smartphone user I believe the cellular and data connections would be a priority over a SIM card tray.
 

Mr.Willie

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I’ve always brought two phones with me when I would go overseas. I’d put a local sim in one and use it as a Wi-Fi hotspot for Wi-Fi calling
and messaging on my US number. Of course my local contacts had my local number.
 

theKHMERboy

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would a Canadian iPhone work if you move to America? since Canadian iPhones still use SIM cards but the American ones doesn't?
 

EdwinG

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would a Canadian iPhone work if you move to America? since Canadian iPhones still use SIM cards but the American ones doesn't?

It’s the same difference as European and Asian models.

We use different frequency bands for our mobile devices. Additionally, ultra wide band 5G is not supported by any of our iPhone models.
 

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