Unlocked iPhone 4s on T-Mobile (prepaid or otherwise)?

Wolfpup said:

Just wanted to double check here...my understanding is that T-Mobile uses frequencies for it's 3G stuff that the iPhone 4s doesn't support, so that an unlocked iPhone actually DOES work on T-Mobile, but only with the older GSM/Edge system.

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Right. T-Mobile said a while back that they have over 1 million iPhones running on their US network.

It will work just fine, see the post in my sig

I have an unlocked iPhone 4 on Tmobile's 50 dollar plan. You have to cut the sim card if you plan on using the prepaid plan but if you get one of their post plans they give you one. The edge speed is not that bad on tmobile and with opera mini it is pretty fast. Also you lose your visual voicemail. But outside of those two things everything else runs the same. I updated to ios 5 and it runs great. I try to stay in wifi when surfing the web and watching Netflix or Hulu plus because edge is to slow for those apps to work. But I look at like this it's a iPod touch with phone service.

You can also buy a MicroSIM directly from T-Mobile for $10 and then don't have to worry about cutting it yourself.

Or, you can buy a MicroSIM cutter from eBay or such for anywhere from $5-10.

Only downside is not having 3G (but EDGE is more than fine for most stuff) and the high upfront cost. However, a little bit of math proves that it is cheaper to pay the $750/850 upfront and save $25-30 per month on T-Mobile than to pay $199/299 on AT&T/Verizon/Spring but pay more per month.

In fact, if you were to have a similar unlimited plan on another carrier but save $40 per month with T-Mobile, you'd be saving $409 (without tax calculations) after two years, even after paying the unlocked price!

You can buy a microsim for ten dollars for a post paid account. For prepaid you have to cut it yourself. Not very hard though. Just follow the outline of a microsim or like earlier poster said try eBay for sim cutter.

You can go get a Micro SIM for free from T-Mobile. Tell them that you are using an iPhone 4 and need it. I manage a T-Mobile store and don't charge customers for that kind of stuff.

As far as the prepaid plan, the $50 is the best plan to go with. You only get 100MB of high speed internet (for our devices that are 3G and higher) but since the iPhone only gets EDGE speeds, you won't notice a speed difference at all.

It'd be great if Apple actually put our 3G/HSPA+ antenna in the phone but like jeans94621 said, staying connected to WiFi when possible makes it much better to use.

Wolfpup said:

Just wanted to double check here...my understanding is that T-Mobile uses frequencies for it's 3G stuff that the iPhone 4s doesn't support, so that an unlocked iPhone actually DOES work on T-Mobile, but only with the older GSM/Edge system.

Is that right?

Out of curiosity, is there any configuration needed, save for buying a micro-SIM card from T-Mobile and slapping it in an unlocked iPhone?

T-Mobile's got a $50 unlimited prepaid plan...the thought of being able to buy an unlocked iPhone and using it with that...well, I had to ask!

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I've used an iPhone on T-Mobile for nearly 3 years now. Internet is slow but useable. You do need to do a bit of configuring to get internet and MMS to work properly. For the phone to work all you have to do is pop the sim in.