Meet the ‘Special’ iPhones from around the world you didn’t know about

The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro series have just been announced, and many of you will be pondering over whether this is the year when you should upgrade to the new iPhone. Before you do that, though, here’s an interesting fact about iPhones – not all of them are created equal!

Buying an iPhone from regions other than the one you live in changes a lot of things. There are countries where the same iPhone will have specific software changes, while other regions will have the same iPhone launch with slightly different hardware too.

Let’s take a look at the various iPhones of the world and how they are different.

Hong Kong, China and Macau – Dual-SIM iPhones

Apple iPhones sold in Hong Kong and China come with Dual-SIM functionality, and are the only iPhones in the world to come with two SIM slots instead of one. iPhones purchased anywhere else in the world will have a single SIM slot (or none at all).

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This change is made for these specific markets due to the common use of two-SIM cards in these regions. However, the only con to these devices is the lack of eSIM support, which may be a drawback for those who travel a lot, and prefer getting local eSIMs.

USA – eSIM only iPhones, better 5G support

Contrary to the iPhones in China and Hong Kong, those sold in the US have no physical SIM slot. All iPhones (since iPhone 14 series) sold in the US are eSIM only – allowing these phones to use multiple eSIMs, but no physical nano SIM card.

That’s not all. iPhones in the US are also the only ones with mmWave 5G support. For the uninitiated, mmWave 5G is a more advanced 5G version that has a smaller range, but higher 5G speed support compared to regular sub-6GHz 5G (which is what the rest of the world primarily uses).

Note that while mmWave 5G is quickly catching up in other parts of the world, Apple continues to lock mmWave support to the iPhones sold in the US. This is also true for the recently launched iPhone 16 series.

Japan – Mandatory camera sound on iPhones

Due to local laws and regulations against photography without consent, iPhones sold in Japan are required to have the camera shutter sound turned on, permanently. While you can switch them off on iPhones everywhere else in the world, no such setting shows up on iPhones purchased in Japan.

Europe – Third party app stores on iOS

Apple was forced to include support for third-party app stores in addition to its own App Store in countries covered in the European Union. This includes countries like France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.

The move doesn’t apply to iPhones in the UK (England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) since the UK’s decision to leave the European Union back in 2020.

Also, the change is a software one and not a hardware one. This means if you take phones purchased in the EU outside of the EU, you lose access to the third-party app stores.

Other instances

Apple’s iPhones sold in France were required to include bundled EarPods (wired Apple earphones) along with the phone for a long time after iPhones stopped shipping them globally. However, this law was revoked in 2022 for reducing the environmental footprint of digital devices. With a large number of people using wireless audio accessories like the AirPods instead, the bundled wired EarPods had quickly become irrelevant.

In a similar instance, the government of Brazil fined Apple the equivalent of about Rs 150 crore in 2022 for selling iPhones without including a charging brick, forcing many to buy the much-required accessory separately.

However, in the two years since, it isn’t clear if Apple has started including chargers. Apple’s Brazil website doesn’t mention the charger in its in-box accessories section. Whether chargers are given separately is unknown.

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That’s the end of the iPhone world tour. Like most brands, Apple has to bend in front of local laws in many regions. Sometimes, this results in positive changes, like iPhone 15 series and above coming with a USB Type-C port or the support for third-party app stores in the EU.

To quote James Franco from The Interview, the next time you’re travelling to one of these countries and see an iPhone with a local, know that it may be “same same, but different!”