The brand new iPad Air isn’t just the companies fastest, thinnest, lightest, best-performing tablet; it’s the world’s first truly global mass-market mobile device. Apple has finally achieved the telecommunications dream — one model for the entire globe.
While Apple has slowly marched towards this goal in the past, coming extremely close with the iPhone 5s, the iPad Air is the first to realize this vision. Every iPad Air sold is unlocked, and every cellular model supports the same GSM/GPRS/EDGE/CDMA/EVDO/UMTS/WCDMA/HSPA/HSDPA/LTE bands. This means that regardless of whether you purchase an AT&T model or a Verizon model, you can freely switch to any carrier in the world without issue in the future.
It’s such a novel concept, to be able to bring your $1,000 device with you to another carrier, though it has been incredibly difficult for regular consumers to do this in the past.
A lot of people are wondering about the cellular iPad Air and have questions about it, but it’s very simple — regardless of what carrier you choose when you buy your iPad Air, the only thing that is actually carrier-specific is the SIM card that comes with it. Simply insert any other SIM card, and even if you have a CDMA carrier like Verizon or Sprint, the iPad Air will configure itself and let you use it with whatever carrier you desire.
Kind of amazing, right?
