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Michielfm

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 17, 2011
33
0
Belgium
Hy there,

Does any one has any idea when the iPhone 5S will be sold fully unlocked in the USA (as the 5C is allready) ? It is because I wan't to get one here in the US but I live in Belgium, so I need a fully unlocked one.
 

glasshead13

macrumors member
Oct 28, 2013
38
0
verizon phones are gsm unlocked.

you can also buy an off contract version for t-mo that is unlocked for international use. Not sure if it is locked locally to tmobile, but I would think it is not since it's an off contract phone. Either way, there are ways to get a phone here that is unlocked for use in Belgium (assuming Belgium carriers run on GSM like most of the rest of the world. - I know nothing about Belgium)
 

Coleman2010

macrumors 68000
Oct 9, 2010
1,919
164
NYC
Hy there,

Does any one has any idea when the iPhone 5S will be sold fully unlocked in the USA (as the 5C is allready) ? It is because I wan't to get one here in the US but I live in Belgium, so I need a fully unlocked one.
Buy the Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile version full priced "device only" from an Apple store and all 3 will be unlocked.

The Verizon version is GSM SIM unlocked so you can also buy it from Apple or any 3rd party retailer if they will sell you one full priced without a contract. BestBuy, Target, Walmart, Radio Shack.

----------

verizon phones are gsm unlocked.

you can also buy an off contract version for t-mo that is unlocked for international use. Not sure if it is locked locally to tmobile, but I would think it is not since it's an off contract phone. Either way, there are ways to get a phone here that is unlocked for use in Belgium (assuming Belgium carriers run on GSM like most of the rest of the world. - I know nothing about Belgium)
If you buy it full priced from T-Mobile it is still locked to T-Mobile. T-Mobile makes you wait 40 days and have an active account before they will unlock it for you.

His best bet is buying from Apple retail device only, getting the Verizon version which is GSM unlocked, or ordering the T-Mobile version from Apple's website.
 

Michielfm

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 17, 2011
33
0
Belgium
Thanks guys! So what is then the difference with a 'SIM unlocked' iphone? And from all these possibilities which one should I pick, or doesn't it matter?
 

RetiredInFl

macrumors 68020
Jul 7, 2008
2,422
237
FORMERLY NJ now FL
Thanks guys! So what is then the difference with a 'SIM unlocked' iphone? And from all these possibilities which one should I pick, or doesn't it matter?
Makes no difference ..... unlocked is unlocked. I just got a Verizon 5S from Apple store today and it's working out of the box on my AT&T account.
 

Coleman2010

macrumors 68000
Oct 9, 2010
1,919
164
NYC
Thanks guys! So what is then the difference with a 'SIM unlocked' iphone? And from all these possibilities which one should I pick, or doesn't it matter?
If you buy device only from the Apple store they are all "SIM unlocked." That's what I meant by GSM unlocked.
 
Last edited:

Michielfm

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 17, 2011
33
0
Belgium
Ok so it is the same thing, great! Now one last question, I'm actually looking for a Gold iPhone 5S 64GB, I'm not sure if the availability of this phone is the same with all providers? Apple sometimes tends to give some providers larger deliveries, no?
 

Akack

macrumors 6502a
Mar 5, 2011
685
44
USA

redlinux

macrumors regular
Sep 25, 2013
223
0
I couldn't agree more. I went to being half-crazy just to get a Gold 32GB T-Mo Contract Free (Factory Unlock) from Apple.com.
 

glasshead13

macrumors member
Oct 28, 2013
38
0
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