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Muscle

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 15, 2010
170
3
Am I out of luck here?

I purchased an unlocked iPhone in Asia a couple weeks ago. Tried upgrading my plan from AT&T's unlimited 3G to AT&T's unlimited LTE and the representative says it can't be done.

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Ok, so after some digging I found out that indeed the A1429 i5 that I have won't work on AT&T's LTE network.

However, will the A1429 GSM version work on Verizon's LTE network? Is there an actual difference between the A1429 GSM and CDMA version? How do I tell if my 1429 is GSM or CDMA?
 

barkomatic

macrumors 601
Aug 8, 2008
4,518
2,821
Manhattan
Just out of curiosity, if you knew you were coming back to the United States in a few weeks, why did you purchase an unlocked phone in Asia?

In any case, did you get it at an Apple store there? Maybe you could call up Apple to see if there is anything they can do--but I think that's unlikely. I guess you could sell your current iPhone and get an AT&T version.
 

Muscle

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 15, 2010
170
3
I think this will answer your question:

http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/972158

Thanks but read that. I understand that mine is the A1429 version. Just not sure if its the GSM or CDMA version. Is there any way to know for certain?

Just out of curiosity, if you knew you were coming back to the United States in a few weeks, why did you purchase an unlocked phone in Asia?

In any case, did you get it at an Apple store there? Maybe you could call up Apple to see if there is anything they can do--but I think that's unlikely. I guess you could sell your current iPhone and get an AT&T version.

It was more of an impulse buy I guess.


So if mine were the A1429 GSM version, are there any LTE networks available for me in the states?
 

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
Thanks but read that. I understand that mine is the A1429 version. Just not sure if its the GSM or CDMA version. Is there any way to know for certain?



It was more of an impulse buy I guess.


So if mine were the A1429 GSM version, are there any LTE networks available for me in the states?

Nope.
Verizon won't allow it on their network neither would sprint.
And with AT&T you will get 3G but not LTE.
 

BruiserB

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2008
1,729
702
I suspect it would only be the GSM version if the country you bought it in did not have CDMA service prior to getting LTE. Even though it might technically work on Verizon's LTE network, whenever you left an LTE service area, it wouldn't be able to "fall back" to CDMA coverage and you'd have no service....therefore VZ won't activate the phone on it's network. Your best bet is to use it on ATT or T-mobile (if you live in an area where they have refarmed their 1900 MHz spectrum to HSPA+). You're pretty much out of luck for USA LTE coverage. You could try to list it on eBay and hope someone in Europe or Asia might want it for close to full price. Tim Cook just said there are 36 more carriers launching LTE service next week, so there may be demand for your phone internationally.
 
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