When we told the Apple Store employee we wanted a device-only iPhone 6 Plus this morning, he told us (as expected) that they didn't have any Pluses from any provider. He also said that the only device-only Plus he is permitted to sell us is from T-Mobile. Am I crazy (don't answer that), or have I been reading tons of postings from people who have bought device-only AT&T and Verizon iPhone 6's in the Apple Store?
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Did the Apple Store employee get it wrong? (Device-only)
- Thread starter DirectorMan
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Welll, not sure why the apple sales said that. Technically they should be able to sell you a device only regardless which model you choose (Sprint excluded). Two weeks ago I was able to buy a AT&T 6 Plus device only. Had no issues
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I was under the impression that with the iPhone 6/6+ it doesn't matter which one you buy (among T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T, that is) because they all are A1549's with the CDMA & GSM available. Can't you just buy a T-Mobile 6 Plus at full price and put a VZW or AT&T SIM in it?
Please correct me if this is wrong because I was thinking of ordering the T-Mobile 6 Plus and putting a VZW SIM in it.
Please correct me if this is wrong because I was thinking of ordering the T-Mobile 6 Plus and putting a VZW SIM in it.
Unless they have changed their policy since launch day, the employee was incorrect. I would just say you want a 6 Plus and ask what carrier they have. If they have one of the ones you want (VZ, ATT, T-Mo), tell them you want it. Don't say anything about device only until it comes to the point that he wants to ring it up and sign you up for a plan. I do believe they try to "discourage" people who know what they are doing from buying device only phones, but I don't think they are outright prohibiting it. It will be harder for them to deny you once they have brought the phone from the back and are ready to ring you up and then you say you want "device-only."
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I did see some early posts saying that CDMA would work on a non VZ specific phone, but I'm not sure that's been confirmed. You would have to be careful, because I could see that it might seem like it's working if you just pop the SIM in, because it would be working off of the LTE bands, but if you eventually wandered into a VZ area that doesn't have LTE you might not have any service.
Has it actually been confirmed that CDMA can become enabled on an ATT or T-mobile phone?
I'm all in favor of buying an AT&T, VZW or T-Mo, depending on what's available. My wife has decided that we should get the VZW because it's the "World Phone". She knows that they are functionally identical. A week ago she wanted to get the AT&T 6 Plus because we're going with them as our provider. Give her a week or two and she'll suddenly want T-Mobile.
I'd like to know too. I want an unlocked 6 which I can use an ATT or T-Mobile sim an any time.
An unlocked Verizon phone would always work on AT&T and T-Mobile. What is in question is whether an unlocked AT&T / T-Mobile phone will work fully on Verizon.
The best "world phone" is actually the Sprint model (A1586/A1524), which has all of the LTE bands of the VZW/T-Mo/AT&T model, plus the TD bands 38-41. The problem is that it seems like it's more or less impossible to get an unlocked version of the Sprint model in the US. I'm not sure whether or not the ones bought internationally are compatible with Verizon, either.
So the VZW is a sure-thing, safe bet because we know it's unlocked for GSM & CDMA. If the T-Mobile one is as well when purchased at full price via Apple, then it should be identical to the VZW model.
If anyone knows the answer to this for sure, it'd be very helpful. Otherwise I'll just wait until November and see if I can just buy a full-price VZW 6 Plus with no hassle at an Apple Store.
Did the Apple Store employee get it wrong? (Device-only)
The VZ CDMA bands don't really have much worldwide use, so the other two are just as much world-phones as the VZ one. The ATT and T-Mobile ones are 100% identical so there's no reason to choose one over the other. I'm using an ATT one on T-Mobile as that's what was available to me on launch day.
The VZ CDMA bands don't really have much worldwide use, so the other two are just as much world-phones as the VZ one. The ATT and T-Mobile ones are 100% identical so there's no reason to choose one over the other. I'm using an ATT one on T-Mobile as that's what was available to me on launch day.
Yes, it works. I'm using a VZ SIM card from a VZ 5c on an ATT 6+ and it works fine. I had Enable LTE set to Data only (forgot to switch it to Voice & Data) and it dropped me to CDMA when I made a call. It's also dropped to 3G and even 1xRTT in areas with bad VZ coverage. That said, VZ will not allow you to activate a SIM card or service on a non-VZ iPhone so if possible, best stick to the VZ version.