Unactivated T-mobile sim card?

marcelo4527 · Nov 24, 2012, 05:17 PM

I wanna test if my new iPhone 5 is in fact unlocked now, and the best way to do that is to simply put a different carrier's sim card, such as T-mobile..
The thing is that I need it to be unlocked to use it internationally with foreign carriers, so I don't have any T-mobile plans, and don't plan on having one.

They sell really cheap sim cards that I'm thinking about buying it just to find that out, but they come unactivated. Will my iPhone recognize the unactivated sim card and show T-mobile on the top corner, or do I need to like activate it with a cheap plan, or prepaid plan in order for that to work? And remember that I just wanna do that to find if my iphone is unlocked now, i don't have any intentions in use that sim card for other than that!

aznboi91 · Nov 24, 2012, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcelo4527

I wanna test if my new iPhone 5 is in fact unlocked now, and the best way to do that is to simply put a different carrier's sim card, such as T-mobile..
The thing is that I need it to be unlocked to use it internationally with foreign carriers, so I don't have any T-mobile plans, and don't plan on having one.

They sell really cheap sim cards that I'm thinking about buying it just to find that out, but they come unactivated. Will my iPhone recognize the unactivated sim card and show T-mobile on the top corner, or do I need to like activate it with a cheap plan, or prepaid plan in order for that to work? And remember that I just wanna do that to find if my iphone is unlocked now, i don't have any intentions in use that sim card for other than that!

Why don't you just bring it into a T-Mobile store and ask them to test it for you...?

duneriderltr450 · Nov 24, 2012, 05:35 PM

I think if it's unlocked it will say no service and if it is not unlocked it will say invalid sim.

marcelo4527 · Nov 24, 2012, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznboi91

Why don't you just bring it into a T-Mobile store and ask them to test it for you...?

That's a good idea actually! Although there's no T-mobile stores near me.. Do you think if I take it to at&t and ask them to just test that for me they would do it?

aznboi91 · Nov 24, 2012, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcelo4527

That's a good idea actually! Although there's no T-mobile stores near me.. Do you think if I take it to at&t and ask them to just test that for me they would do it?

Probably, or verizon or any cellular network that has nano sims.

marcelo4527 · Nov 25, 2012, 04:55 PM

I went to att and they didn't have any activated to test with my iphone.
It's a verizon iPhone, i know it is unlocked but i just wanted to test it out and make sure...

RNVarma · Nov 25, 2012, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznboi91

Why don't you just bring it into a T-Mobile store and ask them to test it for you...?

That's exactly what I did with my device-only iPhone 5

marcelo4527 · Nov 26, 2012, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aznboi91

Why don't you just bring it into a T-Mobile store and ask them to test it for you...?

There's no t-mobile stores near me

Mr Hill · Nov 26, 2012, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcelo4527

There's no t-mobile stores near me

Then go order a T-Mobile microsim online and cut it down to Nano sim size. Or you can just buy a T-Mobile nano sim from one of the sellers on eBay who are selling them.

solo118 · Nov 26, 2012, 03:18 PM

Get this super cheap alternative. I paid $0.28 shipped, now its $1.24 shipped but it shows "simple mobile" on my unlocked ip5

http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Mobile-...bile+micro+sim

marcelo4527 · Nov 26, 2012, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by solo118

Get this super cheap alternative. I paid $0.28 shipped, now its $1.24 shipped but it shows "simple mobile" on my unlocked ip5

http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Mobile-...bile+micro+sim

Did you just put in your iPhone and it showed "simple mobile" on the top left corner right away or did you have to activate the sim first?

Jades · Nov 26, 2012, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcelo4527

Did you just put in your iPhone and it showed "simple mobile" on the top left corner right away or did you have to activate the sim first?

Just put it in the phone and will say simple mobile

Do you know if tmobile actually has coverage in your area though? If not, you may want to just check on their map and make sure that you will roam under AT&T

hoosier1 · Nov 26, 2012, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jades

Just put it in the phone and will say simple mobile

Do you know if tmobile actually has coverage in your area though? If not, you may want to just check on their map and make sure that you will roam under AT&T

See my thread I just started. Uisng an unlocked/full price iphone in the US before going overseas, may lock the phone.

marcelo4527 · Nov 26, 2012, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jades

Just put it in the phone and will say simple mobile

Do you know if tmobile actually has coverage in your area though? If not, you may want to just check on their map and make sure that you will roam under AT&T

Yes I checked! So can I just buy a cheap simple mobile sim card and insert in my phone without worrying about activating it?

Applejuiced · Nov 26, 2012, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoosier1

See my thread I just started. Uisng an unlocked/full price iphone in the US before going overseas, may lock the phone.

I call bs on that.

marcelo4527 · Nov 26, 2012, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Applejuiced

I call bs on that.

Me too

Jades · Nov 27, 2012, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcelo4527

Yes I checked! So can I just buy a cheap simple mobile sim card and insert in my phone without worrying about activating it?

Correct
That or tmobile. As long as it's unactivated, you are fine

Mrfatboy · Dec 1, 2012, 04:22 PM

I bought a cheapy simple mobile sim on amazon to test my verizon iphone 5 unlock. I did not activate it. I just popped it in. It says "no service". I'm in a remote area and Tmobile has crappy service in general in our area. I guess I will try in an better area to see if "Tmobile" pops up.

Jtludwig · Dec 1, 2012, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoosier1

See my thread I just started. Uisng an unlocked/full price iphone in the US before going overseas, may lock the phone.

Where are you getting this crap?

alphaod · Dec 1, 2012, 04:46 PM

Any T-Mobile SIM card would work, so you could test with an old one, just ask around.

marcelo4527 · Dec 1, 2012, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alphaod

Any T-Mobile SIM card would work, so you could test with an old one, just ask around.

I bought an used iPhone 4 for my brother for when I see him again, Idk how I didn't think of that before but it's an art phone and it had a sim card there! I cut to a nano sim size and put in the iPhone 5, since the aim was inactive it showed no signal but when I went to settings-general-about, it shows Carrier AT&T 13.0, which means it recognized the another carrier's sim!

Mrfatboy · Dec 1, 2012, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marcelo4527

I bought an used iPhone 4 for my brother for when I see him again, Idk how I didn't think of that before but it's an art phone and it had a sim card there! I cut to a nano sim size and put in the iPhone 5, since the aim was inactive it showed no signal but when I went to settings-general-about, it shows Carrier AT&T 13.0, which means it recognized the another carrier's sim!

I had 'carrier 13.0' also when I put in the simplemobile sim but had 'no service'.

I will be downtown tomorrow and will test again and report back.

marcelo4527 · Dec 1, 2012, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrfatboy

I had 'carrier 13.0' also when I put in the simplemobile sim but had 'no service'.

I will be downtown tomorrow and will test again and report back.

Mine said AT&T 13.0 and also no service but that's because the sim card wasn't activated!
Did you just buy the simple mobile and put it in your iPhone? Because you would need to activate the sim card and assign a phone number to that sim in order to show signal! So yours is probably just inactive

Mrfatboy · Dec 2, 2012, 05:22 AM

I'm confused. According to post #17 the simple mobile sim DOES NOT need to be activated to display 'tmobile'. Which way is correct?

marcelo4527 · Dec 2, 2012, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrfatboy

I'm confused. According to post #17 the simple mobile sim DOES NOT need to be activated to display 'tmobile'. Which way is correct?

If your sim card is not activated and doesn't have a number assign to it, I don't see how it would show service

Nov 26, 2012, 03:18 PM	#10
solo118 macrumors 6502a Join Date: May 2011	Get this super cheap alternative. I paid $0.28 shipped, now its $1.24 shipped but it shows "simple mobile" on my unlocked ip5 http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Mobile-...bile+micro+sim __________________ iPhone 5 at&t/2011 Macbook Air 11" 128GB/ iPad Mini
	1

Dec 1, 2012, 04:46 PM	#20
alphaod macrumors P6 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: NYC	Any T-Mobile SIM card would work, so you could test with an old one, just ask around. __________________ Mac Pro \| 27" iMac \| 15" MacBook Pro with Retina display \| iPhone 5 \| iPad 3 \| iPad mini
	1

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Nov 24, 2012, 05:17 PM	#1
marcelo4527 macrumors member Join Date: Nov 2012	Unactivated T-mobile sim card? I wanna test if my new iPhone 5 is in fact unlocked now, and the best way to do that is to simply put a different carrier's sim card, such as T-mobile.. The thing is that I need it to be unlocked to use it internationally with foreign carriers, so I don't have any T-mobile plans, and don't plan on having one. They sell really cheap sim cards that I'm thinking about buying it just to find that out, but they come unactivated. Will my iPhone recognize the unactivated sim card and show T-mobile on the top corner, or do I need to like activate it with a cheap plan, or prepaid plan in order for that to work? And remember that I just wanna do that to find if my iphone is unlocked now, i don't have any intentions in use that sim card for other than that!
	0

Nov 24, 2012, 05:35 PM	#3
duneriderltr450 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Oregon	I think if it's unlocked it will say no service and if it is not unlocked it will say invalid sim.
	4

Nov 25, 2012, 04:55 PM	#6
marcelo4527 Thread Starter macrumors member Join Date: Nov 2012	I went to att and they didn't have any activated to test with my iphone. It's a verizon iPhone, i know it is unlocked but i just wanted to test it out and make sure...
	0

Dec 1, 2012, 04:22 PM	#18
Mrfatboy macrumors regular Join Date: Dec 2008	I bought a cheapy simple mobile sim on amazon to test my verizon iphone 5 unlock. I did not activate it. I just popped it in. It says "no service". I'm in a remote area and Tmobile has crappy service in general in our area. I guess I will try in an better area to see if "Tmobile" pops up.
	0

Dec 2, 2012, 05:22 AM	#24
Mrfatboy macrumors regular Join Date: Dec 2008	I'm confused. According to post #17 the simple mobile sim DOES NOT need to be activated to display 'tmobile'. Which way is correct?
	0