iPhone 4S packing CDMA and GSM looks more official as inventory entry and label surfaces

It is looking more likely by the day that one of the devices that will be revealed at Apple’s Oct. 4 iPhone event will be called ‘iPhone 4S’. The device has been added to Apple’s inventory system and a label has appeared on a Chinese forum that details a 16GB iPhone 4S, reports 9to5Mac.

Yesterday evidence of iPhone 4 models bearing an N90A code name had appeared, adding to the rumors that one of the device we will see next week is a tweaked version of the current iPhone 4, which bore the code name N90. Now, the N94 device, which features Apple’s next-gen A5 processor, has appeared in the Apple system.

The N94 iPhone is definitely a physical product as it has been assigned an ID of BCG-E2430A by the FCC.  This is the first reported appearance of this N94 device in Apple’s inventory however.

There is also a label for the iPhone 4S in a 16GB capacity and the white color that surfaced yesterday. This label has a model number of MD239F/A. This model number is similar in progression to most Apple models.

If you accept the label as a legitimate item, which is obviously up in the air as the provenance is unknown, it also adds one more interesting tidbit. On the right side of the label you will see that it records both the IMEI and MEID numbers. These are unique numbers that are used to identify a phone on a network.

The interesting bit is that IMEI numbers are used exclusively on GSM networks like AT&T or Orange, while MEID numbers are used on CDMA networks like Verizon or Sprint. This would appear to indicate that the iPhone 4S packs a radio that is capable of working on both networks and that either network could be used with the phone.

If two separate devices were going to be released, both with the same radio but only active for one network or the other, you wouldn’t need both ID numbers. This should mean that you’ll be able to buy any iPhone and use it on either network. Of course, carrier subsidy and locking will have a dampener on this effect in backwards countries like the US.

As we get closer to the event I’m sure we’ll be seeing more tidbits like this show up, but for now it looks like we are more likely to see an ‘iPhone 4S’ than not.