Related Articles
Apple’s iPhone 5C and 5S may be launching in China on the same dates as the U.S., Japan and Singapore, but the TD-LTE that will work in the country haven’t been mentioned just yet.
If you pop by the Apple China Web site, you’ll note that only the HSDPA (A1526/A1528) and CDMA (A1532/A1533) models are listed.
However, winding its way through China’s version of the FCC (Tenaa) are four new models — two of which are already known. The A1529 (iPhone 5C) and A1530 (iPhone 5S) are handsets that will be sold in Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, New Zealand and Singapore, and will have support for TD-LTE frequencies of 1,900, 2,300 and 2,600.
Screenshot by: Aloysius Low/CNET
The A1516 and A1518 aren’t listed anywhere on Apple’s Web site at the moment, but based on a search on Tenna, these handsets will also support TD-LTE and TD-SCDMA.
These are likely meant for Apple’s (as yet) unannounced partnership with China Mobile. Given the higher non-contract premiums of the new iPhones compared with other local high-quality handsets such as those from Xiaomi, Apple will need a telco to subsidise its expensive smartphones to get sales moving.
