Are all tmobile 5s unlocked?

If you buy it from the Apple store full price, it'll be unlocked. The Apple store employees told me that the T-Mobile variant is the same as the unlocked one. You'll want to get the IMEI Number and call T-Mobile with it to see if tied to an account. There is no more contracts for T-Mobile but if they are making payments on it, it'll be blacklisted if they don't pay it off.

IMEI is for GSM, ESN is for CDMA. The serial number is what gets blacklisted in stolen/unpaid for devices.

If the original buyer bought it from T-Mobile instead of Apple it could be locked, did you ask them when you bought it. If you haven't bought it yet bring your sim and make sure that it works before you buy.

imei is a unique number associated with your phone that never changes. Theoretically if the seller decided to be a jerk he could report the phone stolen and get the imei number blocked so it won't work on a US network, but he doesn't have any reason to do that.

Also if the seller didn't remove it from his iCloud account you could have it get locked until he does.

If the phone was purchased from a T-Mobile store, it is locked, but can be unlocked after it has been on T-Mobile's service for 40 days and the phone is paid off.

I'm a bit confused by your message. If you are with T-Mobile right now and want to switch back to AT&T, the easiest thing is to get your T-Mobile phone unlocked (if you bought it from them) and just take it to AT&T. Did you buy it second hand? If so, if you've been using T-Mobile for at least 40 days, my suggestion is to contact T-Mobile to see if the device has been paid off, and if so, get it unlocked if necessary.

Most tmobile iPhones are locked to tmobile. Unless bought at full price from Apple ( fewer people do that). But even locked they can be used on some prepaid carriers that use tmobile network.

No, they are not all unlocked.
Stick your att sim inside to test it before you pay.

Appl3FTW said:

I just purchased a tmobile 5s and decided to stay with ATT. now the question is, are all of the 5s tmobile unlocked? what could possible go wrong with me purchasing this and the seller may screw me up? let's say the phone is still under contract and the user didn't pay his obligation but he sold the phone to me. can the phone be blacklisted and screws me over? can i unlock the phone myself even tho i'm not with tmobile? can someone explains imei, esn etc to me, i've been with att and i thought those are for cdma phones like verizon and sprint. is that true?

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Can you insert your ATT sim to see if the T-Mo 6+ accepts it? I'd like to know. I'm waiting another week or two for the "official factory unlocked". If none are released, I may have to go T-Mo 6/6+.

ET iPhone Home said:

Can you insert your ATT sim to see if the T-Mo 6+ accepts it? I'd like to know. I'm waiting another week or two for the "official factory unlocked". If none are released, I may have to go T-Mo 6/6+.

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If you're wanting the 6+ used ones aren't much cheaper than new so just go and buy a new one from Apple instead it will be unlocked. And there is no reason to wait, the thread that I'm assuming you got your information about there being a different "official factory unlocked" iPhone was full of misinformation.

ET iPhone Home said:

Can you insert your ATT sim to see if the T-Mo 6+ accepts it? I'd like to know. I'm waiting another week or two for the "official factory unlocked". If none are released, I may have to go T-Mo 6/6+.

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The Verizon iPhone 5c/5s/6/6+ Have the same bands as the AT&T or T-Mobile models and are all unlocked REGARDLESS of where you buy them.

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mrkramer said:

And there is no reason to wait, the thread that I'm assuming you got your information about there being a different "official factory unlocked" iPhone was full of misinformation.

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Correct. The "Official unlocked world phone 6/6+" thread is chock full of wrong information. The OP of that thread insists on posting things that he has not verified.

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Appl3FTW said:

now the question is, are all of the 5s tmobile unlocked?

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No, they're not all unlocked. It really depends on where and how it was purchased.

T5BRICK said:

No, they're not all unlocked. It really depends on where and how it was purchased.

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LOL! Here we go round and round. So if I purchase a T-Mobile 6/6+ directly from The Apple Store, it's considered factory unlocked? It's when I purchase from T-Mobile, it would then have restrictions?

I don't want a Verizon phone. I understand it's flexibility, but if I use it international, I'm restricted to CDMA roaming to a GSM network. I'm not sure what issues I may have, which is why I'm waiting for the official factory unlocked.

If you look at the Apple.com site, the 5S is offered full price, either contract-free T Mobile or factory unlocked. This is what's so confusing. And I anticipate the 6/6+ will also be offered the same way by Thanksgiving.

ET iPhone Home said:

LOL! Here we go round and round. So if I purchase a T-Mobile 6/6+ directly from The Apple Store, it's considered factory unlocked? It's when I purchase from T-Mobile, it would then have restrictions?

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I believe the T-Movile units are only unlocked if purchased at full price from Apple. Same thing applies to the AT&T model.

I don't want a Verizon phone. I understand it's flexibility, but if I use it international, I'm restricted to CDMA roaming to a GSM network. I'm not sure what issues I may have, which is why I'm waiting for the official factory unlocked.

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You DO want the Verizon model. It's fully unlocked and has all the same bands as the AT&T or T-Mobile units. It'll work exactly the same internationally as any other non-Sprint unit sold in the US.

If you look at the Apple.com site, the 5S is offered full price, either contract-free T Mobile or factory unlocked. This is what's so confusing. And I anticipate the 6/6+ will also be offered the same way by Thanksgiving.

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The unlocked model that will be offered eventually will have the same bands as the unlocked AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon units that you can buy from Apple right now.

ET iPhone Home said:

I don't want a Verizon phone. I understand it's flexibility, but if I use it international, I'm restricted to CDMA roaming to a GSM network. I'm not sure what issues I may have, which is why I'm waiting for the official factory unlocked.

If you look at the Apple.com site, the 5S is offered full price, either contract-free T Mobile or factory unlocked. This is what's so confusing. And I anticipate the 6/6+ will also be offered the same way by Thanksgiving.

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The Verizon phone will work natively on any GSM network, just pop in the SIM. I've done it on a 4S unlocked for international use and know of plenty of people who have used the 5 and newer with other sims as they are all fully unlocked.

And as was pointed out many times in the other thread yes at some point they likely will start marketing one as sim free, but it is no different from what is currently available. It's a matter of stock availability when it starts getting marketed that way, and given how tight supplies still are I'd imagine you'd be waiting until well after Thanksgiving.

mrkramer said:

The Verizon phone will work natively on any GSM network, just pop in the SIM. I've done it on a 4S unlocked for international use and know of plenty of people who have used the 5 and newer with other sims as they are all fully unlocked.

And as was pointed out many times in the other thread yes at some point they likely will start marketing one as sim free, but it is no different from what is currently available. It's a matter of stock availability when it starts getting marketed that way, and given how tight supplies still are I'd imagine you'd be waiting until well after Thanksgiving.

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Thank you… I figure it would be a much longer wait even for the T-Mobile version. There's absolutely no inventory anywhere at any Apple Store where I live. I'm in Apple country. There are so many Apple Stores around me and not one.