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max5peru

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2012
64
0
Peru
ATT said NO

ATT replied me in just minutes!
As you said, they cannot process my request because the phone is no associated with an ATT number (sucks)
I'll try with ebay... can you recommend me one.. there are millions of users who offer the service and dont know what to choose. The phone stills in the USA but I want to unlock it before it arrives to my country so I can use it once is here.

Thanks!
AT&T is very slow to process their unlock request. They will email you back requesting your AT&T phone number, even though you bought the phone full price without contract so you don't have an AT&T number. So you'll end up going back and forth communicating the fact that you bought the phone off contract full price. It might be faster to buy the unlock off EBay.

----------


If you buy an AT&T iPhone 5 from the Apple Store "device only" no contract the phone will come out of the box unlocked.

All Verizon iPhone 5's GSM SIM slots are unlocked. No matter who you buy from.
 

iPhonesandMacs

macrumors regular
Oct 11, 2012
234
0
Very interesting! I stand corrected.

So, please tell me why anyone (= I) would want to buy an unlocked AT&T at full price if they can use the Verizon i5 for AT&T/GSM AND Verizon?

If you ever want LTE on tmobile you would need the AT&T one, as well as AT&T LTE... There are different bands for LTE around the world...
 

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
Very interesting! I stand corrected.

So, please tell me why anyone (= I) would want to buy an unlocked AT&T at full price if they can use the Verizon i5 for AT&T/GSM AND Verizon?

The only reason would be to be able to use AT&T's and Tmobile LTE bands.
The verizon i5 model cannot access those frequencies so in the US with a verizon i5 you will not be able to get LTE on AT&T and Tmobile.
Just 2G, 3G and HSPA+.
With an unlocked AT&T i5 you would have those bands available and also canadian and mexican carriers LTE bands will work with the AT&T i5.
 

max5peru

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2012
64
0
Peru
How about the AT&T ones?
Any Verizon iphone 5 is factory unlocked...
Whether you buy It with a plan or not.

How I know this
I work for best buy mobile.
I opened a Verizon iphone 5 and put my at&t sim card inside and it worked just fine.
You won't get LTE on it here though unless you go with the carrier it was made for.
 

yar27

macrumors newbie
Nov 21, 2012
3
0
bought 2 iphone 5s 16gb att earlier at our local apple store no contract but reciept says it will only work for att wireless. are these still unlocked out of the box? because the genius told me to restore it and it can work with any gsm carrier? called back and spoke with another person and said no it will only work with att? can anyone help or confirm?
 

gauchotipo

macrumors newbie
Nov 21, 2012
3
0
Got one today from Apple Store

Went to the Apple Store in Cerritos, CA. Asked to buy a 64GB AT&T "device only". Guy said no problem. Walked out with it at full price $849.00. Then went to the local Wal-Mart and bought StraightTalk sim and plan. Got home, connected iPhone to iMac and bingo...Congratulations, your phone is unlocked. Took out the AT&T sim and then had to cut down the ST sim. A little tricky, but managed to get it in there. Then activated my plan online and ported my number over. Within 20 minutes text received on iPhone that I am now activated. I'm getting 4G speeds too.

BTW, when I was at the Apple Store, the associate was showing me the prices for the "no contract" phones right there on the iPads they have at each table. I guess at the stores it's not a problem to buy a no contract phone.
 

yar27

macrumors newbie
Nov 21, 2012
3
0
Went to the Apple Store in Cerritos, CA. Asked to buy a 64GB AT&T "device only". Guy said no problem. Walked out with it at full price $849.00. Then went to the local Wal-Mart and bought StraightTalk sim and plan. Got home, connected iPhone to iMac and bingo...Congratulations, your phone is unlocked. Took out the AT&T sim and then had to cut down the ST sim. A little tricky, but managed to get it in there. Then activated my plan online and ported my number over. Within 20 minutes text received on iPhone that I am now activated. I'm getting 4G speeds too.

BTW, when I was at the Apple Store, the associate was showing me the prices for the "no contract" phones right there on the iPads they have at each table. I guess at the stores it's not a problem to buy a no contract phone.
on your reciept did it say will only work with att wireless?
 

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
bought 2 iphone 5s 16gb att earlier at our local apple store no contract but reciept says it will only work for att wireless. are these still unlocked out of the box? because the genius told me to restore it and it can work with any gsm carrier? called back and spoke with another person and said no it will only work with att? can anyone help or confirm?

Only 100% way to tell is to stick a tmobile sim in and try it.
But if I had to guess I would say they are fully unlocked.
 

gauchotipo

macrumors newbie
Nov 21, 2012
3
0
on your reciept did it say will only work with att wireless?

it says on the receipt:

At&T Account Information
No Wireless Service Activation during iPhone sale

farther down it says:

This iPhone model is configured to work only with the wireless services of At&T Wireless (I take it to mean that it's a GSM phone).
 

osofast240sx

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2011
2,539
16
Went to the Apple Store in Cerritos, CA. Asked to buy a 64GB AT&T "device only". Guy said no problem. Walked out with it at full price $849.00. Then went to the local Wal-Mart and bought StraightTalk sim and plan. Got home, connected iPhone to iMac and bingo...Congratulations, your phone is unlocked. Took out the AT&T sim and then had to cut down the ST sim. A little tricky, but managed to get it in there. Then activated my plan online and ported my number over. Within 20 minutes text received on iPhone that I am now activated. I'm getting 4G speeds too.

BTW, when I was at the Apple Store, the associate was showing me the prices for the "no contract" phones right there on the iPads they have at each table. I guess at the stores it's not a problem to buy a no contract phone.
Are u getting the 4G icon?
 

gauchotipo

macrumors newbie
Nov 21, 2012
3
0
Are u getting the 4G icon?


yes sir I am

however, I do have an update....apparently sending MMS doesn't work all the time...I've only been able to send text with picts to other iPhone users via messages. To others I haven't. Apparently, even after changing the APN profile using unlockit, there is something blocking it. Doing some googling and someone suggested I go to AT&T's website to request an unlock. I did. So I have to see if that will fix this problem.

The ability to change the APN settings on your own is not possible for me because the menu to change the APN settings under general settings just does not appear. Apparently, if AT&T unlocks it, then the submenus will appear. I'll keep you updated.
 

Coleman2010

macrumors 68000
Oct 9, 2010
1,919
164
NYC
ATT replied me in just minutes!
As you said, they cannot process my request because the phone is no associated with an ATT number (sucks)
I'll try with ebay... can you recommend me one.. there are millions of users who offer the service and dont know what to choose. The phone stills in the USA but I want to unlock it before it arrives to my country so I can use it once is here.

Thanks!
Technically, they should process your unlock request though it is not tied to an AT&T account. If you read the fine print on the AT&T unlock site it says phones purchased full priced off contract are eligible for an unlock. But trying to explain what the webiste says to a customer service rep is painful. I'd call them back and push the issue. Quoting exactly what it says on the website fine print.

You have to have the IMEI number to order an unlock from a 3rd party site. Do you have it? Unlock Fusion is a legit unlock site. Search EBay for Unlock Fusion. The price should be around $10 or lower. I bought an unlock from them and it was processed immediately. From the time I placed the order till the unlock confirmation was less than an hour.

----------

bought 2 iphone 5s 16gb att earlier at our local apple store no contract but reciept says it will only work for att wireless. are these still unlocked out of the box? because the genius told me to restore it and it can work with any gsm carrier? called back and spoke with another person and said no it will only work with att? can anyone help or confirm?
Look at your receipt. Does it say device only on the receipt? Is there a phone number tied to either of the phones you purchased? If not, they should be unlocked.

Do a full restore in iTunes. At the end of the restore an unlocked message will pop up in iTunes if it is unlocked.

----------

yes sir I am

however, I do have an update....apparently sending MMS doesn't work all the time...I've only been able to send text with picts to other iPhone users via messages. To others I haven't. Apparently, even after changing the APN profile using unlockit, there is something blocking it. Doing some googling and someone suggested I go to AT&T's website to request an unlock. I did. So I have to see if that will fix this problem.

The ability to change the APN settings on your own is not possible for me because the menu to change the APN settings under general settings just does not appear. Apparently, if AT&T unlocks it, then the submenus will appear. I'll keep you updated.
Get a T-Mobile SIM and pop it into your phone. The cellular preferences menu will come up and allow you to manually enter the MMS settings. Follow the steps below.

1. Close all opened apps
2. Place T-Mobile sim in iPhone
3. Open Settings, General, Cellular, Data Network
4. When Data Network Appears ( the screen will move back to Cellular)
5. Swap T-Mobile Sim to Straight Talk Sim
6. Wait for the “NO SIM” splash to disappear
7. Press Cellular again and Data Network should still be there.
8. Go to Settings and make sure the information below is entered.

Cellular Data

APN: att.mvno
Username:
Password:

MMS

APN: att.mvno
Username:
Password:
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS Proxy: 66.209.11.33:80
MMS Max Size: 1048576
MMS UA Prof URL: http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf

9. Press Cellular to Exit.
10. A restart of the iPhone may be needed. ( Hold down Top Button, slide to Power off and then start again with Top Button)
 

Illicit

macrumors 6502
May 14, 2007
267
0
Waterloo, ON
Went to the Apple store at North Point Mall in Alpharetta, GA on Black Friday and was able to purchase an iPhone 5 through walk-in (no online reservation needed.)

I asked for an ATT iPhone 5 16GB Black, and if I could purchase it for full price, off-contract. The employee said "absolutely", and without further adieu took my credit card info and gave me the phone.

Went home, restored it in iTunes and got the "Congratulations your phone is unlocked!" message.

For anyone in the area also interested in getting a phone there, white AND black models of all sizes are in stock.
 

rioszeke

macrumors newbie
Nov 25, 2012
2
0
Went to the Apple store at North Point Mall in Alpharetta, GA on Black Friday and was able to purchase an iPhone 5 through walk-in (no online reservation needed.)

I asked for an ATT iPhone 5 16GB Black, and if I could purchase it for full price, off-contract. The employee said "absolutely", and without further adieu took my credit card info and gave me the phone.

Went home, restored it in iTunes and got the "Congratulations your phone is unlocked!" message.

For anyone in the area also interested in getting a phone there, white AND black models of all sizes are in stock.

so you bought the att version of the iphone 5 and you didnt have to go through att's website to unlock it you just plugged it in? what carrier are you using on it?
 

Prime85

macrumors 6502a
Mar 1, 2012
652
0
so you bought the att version of the iphone 5 and you didnt have to go through att's website to unlock it you just plugged it in? what carrier are you using on it?

Just go in the apple store and say you want to pay full price for an AT&T iPhone 5. They are all unlocked and you don't even have to restore them. I have purchased 3 AT&T iPhones a 16gb 32gb, then I returned the 32gb for a 64gb. All three of them were unlocked out of the box. I just threw my tmobile sim into it and was up and running on tmobiles 3G network.
 

rioszeke

macrumors newbie
Nov 25, 2012
2
0
Just go in the apple store and say you want to pay full price for an AT&T iPhone 5. They are all unlocked and you don't even have to restore them. I have purchased 3 AT&T iPhones a 16gb 32gb, then I returned the 32gb for a 64gb. All three of them were unlocked out of the box. I just threw my tmobile sim into it and was up and running on tmobiles 3G network.

Sweet Jesus it worked thank you!
 

SenseiPhone

macrumors regular
Jun 9, 2011
107
2
Just go in the apple store and say you want to pay full price for an AT&T iPhone 5. They are all unlocked and you don't even have to restore them. I have purchased 3 AT&T iPhones a 16gb 32gb, then I returned the 32gb for a 64gb. All three of them were unlocked out of the box. I just threw my tmobile sim into it and was up and running on tmobiles 3G network.

Yea, simply connect to iTunes if your SIM doesn't work at the first time.
 

jemmart

macrumors newbie
Nov 28, 2012
1
0
Has anyone who got iphone 5 from the apple store and used it in India?

I was looking to get one from the apple store, even called and checked with a couple of apple stores nearby and they would sell without contract "device only" as long as they have some in stock. They also claim that they would be locked to the network but I've been told that they all come unlocked and can use it with any GSM network.
I want to get this for my brother in India so can anyone confirm if it works in India?
Also which one would be a better option for use in India. The AT&T or the Verizon one?
 

max5peru

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2012
64
0
Peru
working iphone 5 in Peru

Since APPL Store refused to sell me an iPhone unlocked I got one from best buy,off contract, got the unlock with ATT and unlock fussion and use it with my peruvian sim card
I didnt have to make a full restore, just put the SIM and the phone was working!
Thanks to everyone who helped me with this
Max
 

NitinNike

macrumors member
Apr 10, 2012
76
0
My sister who stays is US purchased a Verizon iPhone 5 (Model-A1429 CDMA) off contract(by paying the full price). So will it work on gsm lte bands (1,3,5) or I can say outside US. More specifically I want to say that all the countries which are shown in A1429 gsm unlocked one(Countries from Asia,Europe).
 
Last edited:

dave006

macrumors 68040
Jul 3, 2008
3,566
889
Just West of East
Yes it will work on any World Wide GSM or the valid LTE bands listed for the A1429 Model. Only the CDMA portion is unsupported by most if not all carriers if you purchased the Verizon unit.

Dave
 
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