With each new iPhone release, Apple captivates users worldwide with cutting-edge features and sleek designs.
However, what many may not realize is that iPhones often come in different versions tailored to specific regions, catering to unique requirements and preferences.
In this blog post, we delve into the intriguing world of Middle Eastern iPhone versions and compare them to their international counterparts.
Join us as we uncover the distinctions that set these devices apart, from network compatibility and language options to localized features and regional support.
What is the Middle East iPhone Version?
So, what is the Middle East iPhone? We can consider it a version of the iPhone that Apple provides to Middle Eastern countries.
But the Middle East is made up of at least 17 nations. And they don’t all use the same iPhone version.
If you only take the GCC nations into account. That is Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Apple supplies at least two distinct iPhone versions to these six countries. Let’s use the iPhone 14 as an example.
The Saudi Arabian iPhone 14s have part numbers that end in AH/A. While the part numbers for the iPhone 14s from Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE end in AA/A. As shown in this table, their model numbers are also different.
| Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE AA/A Middle East iPhone 14 Pro Max version | Saudi Arabian AH/A Middle East iPhone 14 Pro Max version |
|---|---|
| Deep Purple iPhone 14 Pro Max 128GB MQ9T3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 256GB MQ9X3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 512GB MQAM3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB MQC53AA/A Space Black iPhone 14 Pro Max 128 GB MQ9P3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 256GB MQ9U3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 512GB MQAF3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB MQC23AA/A Silver iPhone 14 Pro Max 128 GB MQ9Q3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 256 GB MQ9V3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 512 GB MQAH3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB MQC33AA/A Gold iPhone 14 Pro Max 128 GB MQ9R3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 256 GB MQ9W3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 512 GB MQAJ3AA/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 1 TB MQC43AA/A | Deep Purple iPhone 14 Pro Max 128GB MQ993AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 256GB MQ9E3AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 512GB MQ9J3AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB MQ9N3AH/A Space Black iPhone 14 Pro Max 128GB MQ963AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 256GB MQ9A3AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 512GB MQ9F3AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB MQ9K3AH/A Silver iPhone 14 Pro Max 128GB MQ973AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 256GB MQ9C3AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 512GB MQ9G3AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB MQ9L3AH/A Gold iPhone 14 Pro Max 128GB MQ983AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 256GB MQ9D3AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 512GB MQ9H3AH/A iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB MQ9M3AH/A |
| AA/A Middle East iPhone 14 Model numbers | AH/A Middle East iPhone 14 Model numbers |
|---|---|
| A2894 – iPhone 14 Pro Max A2890 – iPhone 14 Pro A2886 – iPhone 14 Plus A2882 – iPhone 14 | A2893 – iPhone 14 Pro Max A2889 – iPhone 14 Pro A2885 – iPhone 14 Plus A2881 – iPhone 14 |
Difference between AH/A and AA/A Middle East iPhone versions
Middle Eastern iPhone AA/A vs AH/A FaceTime difference
The iPhone 14s with the AA/A part numbers don’t show the FaceTime application when their region is set to the United Arab Emirates.
That’s because in the UAE, the TRA has placed a restriction on the use of FaceTime within the country. And even if you visit there with a FaceTime enabled iPhone, you’ll notice that the app won’t even work on UAE cellular networks.
However, when you switch the region of a UAE iPhone to any other country, the FaceTime icon becomes available. But since FaceTime is blocked in the UAE at the level of the network providers, the only way to make it work in the country is to use a VPN.
The Saudi Arabian AH/A iPhone 14s, on the other hand, have no FaceTime restrictions. Since 2017, the country has permitted the use of FaceTime.
Middle Eastern iPhone AA/A vs AH/A iPhone cellular band differences
The second difference concerns their cellular band compatibility.
The AA/A iPhone 14s (available in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar) lack two 5G cellular bands (n258 (26 GHz) and n260 (39 GHz)) which are available in the AH/A iPhone 14 version (available in Saudi Arabia).
But when it comes to their LTE cellular bands, the AA/A iPhone supports four extra cellular bands (11 (1500 MHz), 14 (700 PS), 21 (1500 MHz), and 29 (700d MHz)) than the AH/A iPhone version.
Here’s a chart for your reference.
| Middle East iPhone cellular bands | |||
| LTE cellular bands | 5G cellular bands | ||
| AA/A version | AH/A version | AA/A version | AH/A version |
| 1 (2100 MHz) | 1 (2100 MHz) | n1 (2100 MHz) | n1 (2100 MHz) |
| 2 (1900 MHz) | 2 (1900 MHz) | n2 (1900 MHz) | n2 (1900 MHz) |
| 3 (1800 MHz) | 3 (1800 MHz) | n3 (1800 MHz) | n3 (1800 MHz) |
| 4 (AWS) | 4 (AWS) | n5 (850 MHz) | n5 (850 MHz) |
| 5 (850 MHz) | 5 (850 MHz) | n7 (2600 MHz) | n7 (2600 MHz) |
| 7 (2600 MHz) | 7 (2600 MHz) | n8 (900 MHz) | n8 (900 MHz) |
| 8 (900 MHz) | 8 (900 MHz) | n12 (700 MHz) | n12 (700 MHz) |
| 11 (1500 MHz) | n14 (700 PS) | n14 (700 PS) | |
| 12 (700 MHz) | 12 (700 MHz) | n20 (800 DD) | n20 (800 DD) |
| 13 (700c MHz) | 13 (700c MHz) | n25 (1900 MHz) | n25 (1900 MHz) |
| 14 (700 PS) | n26 (800 MHz) | n26 (800 MHz) | |
| 17 (700b MHz) | 17 (700b MHz) | n28 (700 APT) | n28 (700 APT) |
| 18 (800 MHz) | 18 (800 MHz) | n29 (700d MHz) | n29 (700d MHz) |
| 19 (800 MHz) | 19 (800 MHz) | n30 (2300 MHz) | n30 (2300 MHz) |
| 20 (800 DD) | 20 (800 DD) | n38 (TD 2600) | n38 (TD 2600) |
| 21 (1500 MHz) | n40 (TD 2300) | n40 (TD 2300) | |
| 25 (1900 MHz) | 25 (1900 MHz) | n41 (TD 2500) | n41 (TD 2500) |
| 26 (800 MHz) | 26 (800 MHz) | n48 (TD 3600) | n48 (TD 3600) |
| 28 (700 APT) | 28 (700 APT) | n53 (TD 2500) | n53 (TD 2500) |
| 29 (700d MHz) | n66 (AWS-3) | n66 (AWS-3) | |
| 30 (2300 MHz) | 30 (2300 MHz) | n70 (AWS-4) | n70 (AWS-4) |
| 32 (1500 L-band) | 32 (1500 L-band) | n71 (600 MHz) | n71 (600 MHz) |
| 34 (TD 2000) | 34 (TD 2000) | n77 (TD 3700) | n77 (TD 3700) |
| 38 (TD 2600) | 38 (TD 2600) | n78 (TD 3500) | n78 (TD 3500) |
| 39 (TD 1900) | 39 (TD 1900) | n79 (TD 4700) | n79 (TD 4700) |
| 40 (TD 2300) | 40 (TD 2300) | n258 (26 GHz) | |
| 41 (TD 2500) | 41 (TD 2500) | n260 (39 GHz) | |
| 42 (TD 3500) | 42 (TD 3500) | ||
What is the International iPhone Version?
What is the international iPhone version? To answer this question, you must first understand that Apple creates various iPhone models because they want them to be compatible with cellular network providers and compliant with regional authorities in the respective countries or regions where they are sold.
Therefore, it wouldn’t make sense to have an international iPhone version, as it may not be compliant with each country’s requirements. For that reason, the international iPhone version doesn’t exist.
That said, there is a group of iPhone models that could be considered, to a certain extent, the international iPhone version.
That’s because it’s an iPhone model that Apple manufactures to be sold and used in most countries around the world. I like to refer to it as the global iPhone version.
The model numbers of the iPhones in this group are listed below, along with a list of the nations for which Apple produces these particular iPhone models.
If you look closely at the list of countries that use the global iPhone model, you will notice that Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE are included in this list.
iPhone 14 Global models
iPhone 14 Pro Max A2893
iPhone 14 Pro A2889
iPhone 14 Plus A2885
iPhone 14 A2881
List of countries that use the iPhone 14 Global models
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, BES Islands, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Curacao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia and Tahiti, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jersey, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Reunion Islands, Romania, Rwanda, Saint Barts, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Island, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tokelau, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Willis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
If you look closely at the list of countries that use the global iPhone model, you will notice that Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the UAE are included in this list.
However, as we noted earlier in this blog post, these are Middle Eastern nations, and they make use of the AA/A part number iPhone, which is regarded as one of the Middle East iPhone models. But their model numbers are the same as the global iPhone model.
This serves to further support the claim that there is no international iPhone model because, if there were, it would have been the global iPhone model, which is used in the majority of the world’s nations.
Disclaimer: As An Amazon Affiliate, We Earn From Qualifying Purchases
