Everything You Must know About The Verizon iPhone 4
The fabled phone is now fact. But before you bid adieu to AT&T, make sure you know these six vital facts.
1. IT WON’T WORK ON SPRINT
Try as you might, you can’t unlock the Verizon iPhone to work on Sprint. That’s because Sprint devices use all digital Sprint PCS and Nextel iDEN networks. Which is all just a fancy way of saying they operate at different frequencies.
2. IT MIGHT NOT FIT IN YOUR OLD CASE
Besides the obvious antenna position change, the buttons on the Verizon iPhone are moved ever so slightly. On Big Red’s phone, the buttons are located just a tad lower. That means Apple’s bumpers and quite a few other cases won’t work.
3. IT WON’T SAVE YOU MONEY
The Verizon iPhone 4 is priced at $199.99 for 16GB or $299.99 for 32GB. It’s the same phone that AT&T offers, including pricing and configuration, so there’s no compelling hardware reason to switch if you already have an iPhone 4.
4. DITCHING AN AT&T CONTRACT CAN BE EXPENSIVE
It’s going to cost you to free yourself from the shackles of AT&T. If you purchased your iPhone after June 1, 2010, you’ll be paying an early termination fee of $325, minus $10 for each month of your contract you completed. So, if you bought your iPhone the day it was released, you’ll
shell out $265 to kiss AT&T good-bye.
If you purchased your phone before June 2010, the early-termination fee is $175, minus $5 for each month completed.
5. VERIZON’S NETWORK HAS PROS AND CONS
We’ve all heard the old song about weak signals and dropped calls on AT&T’s network, but will Verizon’s CDMA network fare any better once it’s invaded by hordes of data-sucking iPhones? Verizon says yes, its mobile network is ready for the challenge it’s already been torture tested by a family of 3G Android phones, so any issues have likely been addressed.
That said, Verizon’s 3G CDMA wireless network is a bit outdated and pokey. You might notice a slowdown if you had been getting decent wireless service from AT&T, which has a 3G GSM network that’s technically capable of better performance than Verizon’s. Plus, CDMA splits the voice and data networks, so you can’t use data while on a voice call. But that also means fewer dropped calls due to overloaded data networks.
Neither Apple nor Verizon would say whether a purported iPhone 5 with 4G LTE service will eventually be released, but four Android 4G LTE phones are slated for Verizon later this year. Apple’s COO Tim Cook said that including an LTE chip in the Verizon iPhone 4 would require design compromises that no one was willing to make.
Verizon's personal Hotspot is found under Settings > Network
6. IT’LL BE OUTDATED SOON
It’s very probable that we’ll get a new iPhone in early summer, one likely to run on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. And unless Verizon’s executives are utterly insane, they’ll offer a sweet upgrade deal for customers who buy an iPhone now. (Or maybe not the company did quietly end its New Every Two program alongside the iPhone announcement.) Analysts think Verizon will likely sell 7 to 13 million iPhones this year, and no one wants a mob of a few million disgruntled customers waving torches and pitchforks in front of corporate headquarters just ask AT&T.
The fabled phone is now fact. But before you bid adieu to AT&T, make sure you know these six vital facts.
1. IT WON’T WORK ON SPRINT
Try as you might, you can’t unlock the Verizon iPhone to work on Sprint. That’s because Sprint devices use all digital Sprint PCS and Nextel iDEN networks. Which is all just a fancy way of saying they operate at different frequencies.
2. IT MIGHT NOT FIT IN YOUR OLD CASE
Besides the obvious antenna position change, the buttons on the Verizon iPhone are moved ever so slightly. On Big Red’s phone, the buttons are located just a tad lower. That means Apple’s bumpers and quite a few other cases won’t work.
3. IT WON’T SAVE YOU MONEY
The Verizon iPhone 4 is priced at $199.99 for 16GB or $299.99 for 32GB. It’s the same phone that AT&T offers, including pricing and configuration, so there’s no compelling hardware reason to switch if you already have an iPhone 4.
4. DITCHING AN AT&T CONTRACT CAN BE EXPENSIVE
It’s going to cost you to free yourself from the shackles of AT&T. If you purchased your iPhone after June 1, 2010, you’ll be paying an early termination fee of $325, minus $10 for each month of your contract you completed. So, if you bought your iPhone the day it was released, you’ll
shell out $265 to kiss AT&T good-bye.
If you purchased your phone before June 2010, the early-termination fee is $175, minus $5 for each month completed.
5. VERIZON’S NETWORK HAS PROS AND CONS
We’ve all heard the old song about weak signals and dropped calls on AT&T’s network, but will Verizon’s CDMA network fare any better once it’s invaded by hordes of data-sucking iPhones? Verizon says yes, its mobile network is ready for the challenge it’s already been torture tested by a family of 3G Android phones, so any issues have likely been addressed.
That said, Verizon’s 3G CDMA wireless network is a bit outdated and pokey. You might notice a slowdown if you had been getting decent wireless service from AT&T, which has a 3G GSM network that’s technically capable of better performance than Verizon’s. Plus, CDMA splits the voice and data networks, so you can’t use data while on a voice call. But that also means fewer dropped calls due to overloaded data networks.
Neither Apple nor Verizon would say whether a purported iPhone 5 with 4G LTE service will eventually be released, but four Android 4G LTE phones are slated for Verizon later this year. Apple’s COO Tim Cook said that including an LTE chip in the Verizon iPhone 4 would require design compromises that no one was willing to make.
Verizon's personal Hotspot is found under Settings > Network6. IT’LL BE OUTDATED SOON
It’s very probable that we’ll get a new iPhone in early summer, one likely to run on Verizon’s 4G LTE network. And unless Verizon’s executives are utterly insane, they’ll offer a sweet upgrade deal for customers who buy an iPhone now. (Or maybe not the company did quietly end its New Every Two program alongside the iPhone announcement.) Analysts think Verizon will likely sell 7 to 13 million iPhones this year, and no one wants a mob of a few million disgruntled customers waving torches and pitchforks in front of corporate headquarters just ask AT&T.
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