Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Surprise: CDMA iPhone 4S Comes With An Unlocked SIM Slot

D

david594

macrumors newbie
Mar 21, 2008
16
0
Would this work to let you use a GSM sim card from a US carrier then if your in a part of the US where there is only GSM coverage and no CDMA?

Seems kind of absurd, but I spent 2 weeks this summer up in Washington state where there was zero CDMA coverage, but great GSM coverage.
 
Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
david594 said:
Would this work to let you use a GSM sim card from a US carrier then if your in a part of the US where there is only GSM coverage and no CDMA?

Seems kind of absurd, but I spent 2 weeks this summer up in Washington state where there was zero CDMA coverage, but great GSM coverage.
Click to expand...

No, it wont work in the US.
Its just for international roaming.
 
kdarling

kdarling

macrumors P6
Jun 9, 2007
17,373
5,924
First university coding class = 47 years ago
Applejuiced said:
There's a big difference.
Any cellphone can be unlocked in the past 4+ years but the iphone here. So I wouldnt be surprised if our US money hungry carriers wouldnt lock it to their own GSM sims only.
Click to expand...

A major reason to use GSM is to be able to swap in local SIMs on long trips.

Verizon has always unlocked the GSM side of their World Phones for customers in good standing. There's no reason to think they would change in this case.

AT&T, like about half the world's GSM carriers, refuses to unlock the iPhones they sell. Worse, they won't even unlock it after it's paid off. They don't want their users jumping to carriers like T-Mobile.

Verizon and Sprint is no better in that regard, of course. They don't let the other's CDMA phones onto their network, for the same reason: they don't want to make it too easy to jump carriers.
 
M

MikeLeardo

macrumors newbie
Mar 16, 2011
15
0
if this follows suit with what verizon has been doing in the past then it does not matter if you use a sim from ATT or a global one. It will still work. I internationally unlocked my work blackberry and put my ATT sim in 2 minutes later and was able to make calls from that number, so i think the iphone should work exactly the same way.
 
S

Shanpdx

macrumors 68030
Sep 24, 2008
2,534
346
Blazer town!
MikeLeardo said:
if this follows suit with what verizon has been doing in the past then it does not matter if you use a sim from ATT or a global one. It will still work. I internationally unlocked my work blackberry and put my ATT sim in 2 minutes later and was able to make calls from that number, so i think the iphone should work exactly the same way.
Click to expand...

hopefully that is the case. may be this is apple way of getting ATT to unlock the iPhones i mean damn iPhones? :cool:
 
jmpnop

jmpnop

macrumors 6502a
Aug 8, 2010
821
34
Applejuiced said:
No, it wont work in the US.
Its just for international roaming.
Click to expand...

I buy one without contract off ebay when I go to the US (locked to Sprint/Verizon) and take it another country, will it work with other SIM without unlocking?
 
S

SirStrumalot

macrumors 6502
Feb 28, 2011
391
4
Minneapolis, MN
If this is true, I will be seriously considering switching from AT&T. I don't mind being on contract, but not being able to use my phone when I travel has always been a huge disadvantage.
 
zap2

zap2

macrumors 604
Mar 8, 2005
7,252
8
Washington D.C
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

So it makes more sense to sign up for a Sprint contract, cancel and pay the ETF, then buying an unlocked device straight out.

Unless there is some negative I can't think of, but assuming once your Sprint account is off, then CDMA isn't using battery power, it should work
 
R

retroneo

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2005
769
140
When you call your carrier (outside the US) to ask for your subsidized iPhone to be unlocked, you get the "Congratulations" message when you then restore your iPhone in iTunes.

The iPhone is then identical to a factory unlocked iPhone from the Apple Store.

Unless there's a new partial unlock mechanism (which I doubt) then they should be completely unlocked. However perhaps the iPhone only turns on GSM if there's no available CDMA coverage.

It's not like the unlock makes much difference to the carrier as you've still got a two year contract you have to honor… That's why all subsidised iPhones are carrier locked in Australia, but the unlock can be removed for free on request. The carrier doesn't really lose out, except on exorbitant international roaming fees.
 
zap2

zap2

macrumors 604
Mar 8, 2005
7,252
8
Washington D.C
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

mrgreen4242 said:
puma1552 said:
So what you are saying is that the Sprint/Verizon iPhones are factory unlocked?

Then who would pay for an unlocked phone from Apple?
Click to expand...

Cheapest plan on Sprint for an iPhone is $70/month, 2 year contract. So about $1700+200 for the phone, or $200 phone and $450 ETF... Same price as unlocked.

alent1234 said:
it won't work?

there has to be a reason why sprint is buying so much phones. they plan to make money on them somehow
Click to expand...

See above. Even of you put another SIM in there they're still gonna get paideia her your contract rate or the ETF. Also, most world phones are unlocked (either out of the box or on request) for international SIMs but NOT for domestic ones.

Lastly most people who are going to travel just one or twice with a phone aren't going to bother getting a SIM for it from the local country, they'll all up their provider and add an international roaming plan or $20-99 depending on features and duration and just be done with it, so he carriers will make that money for the infrequent travelers.
Click to expand...

Sprints ETF is 350, so you still save 100 dollars
 
M

MacCurry

macrumors 6502a
Aug 28, 2006
509
182
I don't believe there is anything such as an "international unlock" and "domestic unlock". If the GSM portion is unlocked, then it will work with any microSIM provided the GSM carrier's network is capable of the data frequencies. That is, in theory you could put a T-Mobile microSIM in the Sprint iPhone4s and get Edge data speed, but be fine with voice.

What would be cool is if you could get GSM voice on T-Mobile and Sprint data on the iPhone4s. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
 
G

greenythebeast

macrumors regular
Mar 24, 2008
201
0
60 days since purchasing the iPhone 4S or 60 days since being a Verizon customer? I'm getting my first iPhone (the 4S obviously!) this weekend, but have been a Verizon customer for years. Do I still have to wait 60 days to get it unlocked?
 
D

david594

macrumors newbie
Mar 21, 2008
16
0
So if you are getting the iphone as a new device on an existing line that is older than 60 days, can you get it unlocked immediately then?
 
S

Steve J0bs

macrumors 6502
Jul 30, 2008
271
100
This is very interesting.... i have two phones that may be arriving tomorrow that i purchased from Verizon off contract. I will test it with various micro sims and let you guys know.
 
S

Shanpdx

macrumors 68030
Sep 24, 2008
2,534
346
Blazer town!
zap2 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)



Sprints ETF is 350, so you still save 100 dollars
Click to expand...

what about
1) activation fee
2) first month charge
3) credit check
 
S

SirStrumalot

macrumors 6502
Feb 28, 2011
391
4
Minneapolis, MN
MacCurry said:
I don't believe there is anything such as an "international unlock" and "domestic unlock". If the GSM portion is unlocked, then it will work with any microSIM provided the GSM carrier's network is capable of the data frequencies.
Click to expand...
This is true. That being said, I'm interested in what implications this will have for AT&T.
 
jianglai

jianglai

macrumors member
Feb 9, 2010
51
8
New York
So if I sign up with sprint I can go to china without the ridiculous roaming fee and after the two year contract I can sell it to any gsm user or just give it to my father I china. And if I stick with AT&T I'll be ripped off every time I travel and after two years can only sell it to AT&T users...

Way to go AT&T!
 
D

djuzi05

macrumors regular
Jun 28, 2011
115
0
So the CDMA iPhones are the actual world iPhones while AT&T is stuck with international roaming (that is until a software unlock comes out).

Fudgin' lucky CDMA users lol

And GSM unlocked is fully GSM unlocked. You can't restrict it. It'll take any sim you put into it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom