I wanted to post my story for others who may be in a similar situation...
After owning many generations of Android phones I decided I wanted to get back into the iPhone. However, my issue is that I refuse to switch from T-Mobile to Verizon or AT&T because I've been with them for a long time and my rates are extremely low.
After reading a few articles, namely THIS ONE, I decided to call my local T-Mobile store to see if they received their nano sim cards yet. Much to my surprise they just received their first batch this morning.
After hearing this great news, I decided to head up to the Apple store and pick up an ATT iPhone 5 for full retail price of $650. I was surprised when they sold it to me no questions asked because I've read that getting the Apple store to sell you the phone without providing proof of being a current Verizon or AT&T customer was next to impossible.
After making my purchase and checking the phone for nicks/dings (found a very minor one btw) I headed straight to the T-Mobile store. When I arrived I pulled my macbook out along with the iPhone. Once word got around the store of what I was attempting to do, I had an audience of 3 sales people and 2 other customers.
I turned the iPhone on, plugged it into the macbook and before I could even touch a thing on the mac or the phone iTunes popped up and instantly displayed the message “Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked.”
Without doing anything else I unplugged the phone, popped in my new T-Mobile nano sim and after rebooting I had full 3G signal!! I've tested various phone calls, texts, picture mail, and it all works without issue.
I've spent a few days researching and haven't found anyone who mentioned it being this easy for them. I know the Verizon one is unlocked right out of the box but from everything I read, the AT&T one should not be. Luckily, this doesn't seem to be the case.
CLIFFS NOTES:
- Purchased AT&T iPhone 5 for full price from Apple Store and it works with my T-Mobile nano sim without having to do anything aside from simply plugging it into my mac for 5 seconds.
After owning many generations of Android phones I decided I wanted to get back into the iPhone. However, my issue is that I refuse to switch from T-Mobile to Verizon or AT&T because I've been with them for a long time and my rates are extremely low.
After reading a few articles, namely THIS ONE, I decided to call my local T-Mobile store to see if they received their nano sim cards yet. Much to my surprise they just received their first batch this morning.
After hearing this great news, I decided to head up to the Apple store and pick up an ATT iPhone 5 for full retail price of $650. I was surprised when they sold it to me no questions asked because I've read that getting the Apple store to sell you the phone without providing proof of being a current Verizon or AT&T customer was next to impossible.
After making my purchase and checking the phone for nicks/dings (found a very minor one btw) I headed straight to the T-Mobile store. When I arrived I pulled my macbook out along with the iPhone. Once word got around the store of what I was attempting to do, I had an audience of 3 sales people and 2 other customers.
I turned the iPhone on, plugged it into the macbook and before I could even touch a thing on the mac or the phone iTunes popped up and instantly displayed the message “Congratulations, your iPhone has been unlocked.”
Without doing anything else I unplugged the phone, popped in my new T-Mobile nano sim and after rebooting I had full 3G signal!! I've tested various phone calls, texts, picture mail, and it all works without issue.
I've spent a few days researching and haven't found anyone who mentioned it being this easy for them. I know the Verizon one is unlocked right out of the box but from everything I read, the AT&T one should not be. Luckily, this doesn't seem to be the case.
CLIFFS NOTES:
- Purchased AT&T iPhone 5 for full price from Apple Store and it works with my T-Mobile nano sim without having to do anything aside from simply plugging it into my mac for 5 seconds.
