Did you know that depending on the region where your iPhone is manufactured, it can have some differences compared to iPhones sold in other countries? While these may sound interesting, most of the time they end up losing some features rather than adding more.
4. China: No FaceTime Audio
Unsurprisingly, of all the countries, the iPhone is the most limited in terms of functionality. In mainland China, FaceTime Audio is not available, meaning you can't make end-to-end encrypted audio calls over the internet .
The reason for this is to comply with Chinese law. The Chinese government tightly controls all audio communications, often requiring backdoor access so that the state can listen in on calls if it wants to. Meanwhile, China’s traditional mobile carriers (which are largely run by the government) don’t want to face competition from any rival apps that offer free online calling.
Apple probably wouldn’t want to let the Chinese government install a backdoor into its service, so turning this feature off is the easiest way to comply with regulations while avoiding a backdoor situation.
As we’ll see with the other features here, FaceTime Audio is permanently disabled on any iPhone sold in China. Even if you leave China, insert a SIM card from another country, or something similar, you can’t get around this restriction.
Regular phone calls are still working, as are FaceTime video calls. Video calls are also not covered by the state's restrictions.
However, group FaceTime calls will not be available in China. Since WeChat is the most popular form of digital communication in China, FaceTime will not be as popular.
3. UAE: Absolutely no FaceTime
The UAE has an even worse FaceTime situation than China, as the feature doesn't work at all on phones sold there. This applies to both video and audio calls using FaceTime.
The reasoning is similar to China; the UAE’s main telecom companies are run by the government, with the goal of maintaining a monopoly on calling services. As a result, the country blocks third-party calling apps (this also applies to video and voice calls on WhatsApp , among others).
The government also wants to monitor calls for “national security reasons,” so encrypted services like FaceTime face the same problem as in China. The government doesn’t want people using apps they can’t monitor, and companies like Apple don’t want to invade privacy by allowing call tracking.
FaceTime is also unavailable in several other Middle Eastern countries, such as Qatar, for similar reasons. The feature was also unavailable in Saudi Arabia until recently.
2. Japan and Korea: Camera sound is always on
If you buy an iPhone for the Japanese or Korean markets, you will never be able to turn off the camera shutter sound. This is due to local privacy laws in both regions that are designed to prevent people from taking photos without permission. By always playing the camera shutter sound, stalkers will no longer be able to take photos of people without their permission.
In other regions, you can easily mute the sound by putting your phone on silent mode. But like the restrictions discussed earlier, you can’t change this setting even if you ’re using a VPN to make your phone think you’re somewhere else.
1. United States: iPhone only supports eSIM
Apple has been selling eSIM- enabled iPhone models since the iPhone XS/Max and XR launched in 2018. These phones support dual SIM by allowing you to use two eSIMs at the same time or one physical SIM card with one eSIM.
However, when the iPhone 14 series launches in 2022, Apple is removing the physical SIM card slot — only in the US. In every other country, the iPhone 14 and later will have both a physical SIM slot and eSIM support, as before.
Apple likely did this to remove another physical part from the iPhone, simplifying the waterproofing process and making more room for internal reinforcement. Most carriers in the US support eSIMs, so a physical SIM slot is largely unnecessary.
While this means you can’t buy a SIM card for another country when you travel, you can easily use the eSIM website to load a compatible eSIM card into your phone before you leave. Then, when you arrive, you can switch to a local eSIM and avoid roaming charges. The iPhone can store up to eight eSIMs, although only two can be active at a time.
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