You do if you are opening an account with one of those carriers for the first time. Verizon and Sprint won't just sell you a SIM card unless they can add an IMEI to their database. It's a relic of the CDMA days that is no longer technically necessary, but they do it, anyway.
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iPhone 6s Now Available SIM-Free in Apple Online Store
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If you bought an AT&T smartphone with a two-year commitment, no matter where you got it, it's locked.
If you bought an AT&T smartphone with no contract directly from Apple and paid full price, it's unlocked.
If you bought an AT&T smartphone from AT&T, regardless of whether you paid full price or not, it's locked.
What's funny is that I was just at the apple store earlier today and as I was doing an exchange, I asked about if they guy knew about when the sim-free model would come out, and he had no idea. As we talked, I told him that I'm guessing that this time around that it would be the AT&T model since it has all the bands. And I guessed it right.
I assume that the sim-free models does not qualify for the iUP?
I assume that the sim-free models does not qualify for the iUP?
1)You can only buy phones on 2 year commitments from AT&T now. They don't allow third party retailers to sell that.
2)True
3)True, but you can immediately request an unlock if you paid full price.
That's because only the stores in Alaska and Hawaii are open long enough to make a reservation. The West Coast stores are closing soon. Even the 5th Ave store (24/7) stops iPhone sales at 9:00.
I've seen this type of language on the Apple website over the years, and people have still had issues getting the phones activated on the Verizon network. Search back through the MR forums, lots of frustrated people over the years with Verizon...
three weeks ago verizon said f'it and they white listed every single iPhone 6 and 6+ as well as every google nexus 6. you are now allowed to take any t-mobile unlocked iPhone 6 to verizon just like you can take sim free iPhone 6 to verizon. the only thing about the 6 and 6+ with verizon is , it has to be unlocked.
link
https://www.reddit.com/r/verizon/comments/3gw0kw/psa_verizon_just_whitelisted_the_iphone_6_and_6/?
we should search the macrumors forums and reply to every thread and tell them to nevermnd.
now we just have to wait till they get all bent out of shape and white list the 6s models
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This may be a stupid question, but with the SIM-Free model do you need to put in a SIM card to be able to start using the phone? I know that even if you bought the T-Mobile model full price, you had to have a valid SIM card inserted before you could do anything.
Yes, you still need to insert a sim. Sim-Free just means that when you buy the phone it does NOT come with a sim and is Factory Unlocked.
So what's the difference between buying an unlocked iPhone full priced directly from Apple and buying an iPhone via Apple's Upgrade Program? Aren't those unlocked as well? I thought that was part of the point of the Upgrade Program: you aren't beholden to any carrier for the phone and you aren't utilizing a subsidized contract. You buy a phone from Apple via the Upgrade Program and it's configured for a particular carrier. But if you want to leave-- assuming you've already fulfilled the terms of your contract with the carrier-- you can take the iPhone and go to another carrier. All they charge you for switching is for a new SIM card. It's the same thing with the unlocked iPhones. Right or wrong?
There were already some third party retailers that were selling it like this since their first shipment. Dont know why Apple waited if this is really the first time since launch.
The Apple Upgrade Program requires you to have an active line on one of the four major carriers in the U.S., and it's tied to your credit.
You're right that it's also unlocked, but full price allows you to buy without tying it to your credit and without requiring a cell phone plan.
So the Sim-Free iPhone 6S is a world phone basically. If I get a T-Mobile iPhone 6S and unlock it, will it also work on Sprint/Verizon?
Sales didn't meet expectations? Where did you read that ?
Must have been the article that stated that Apple had record-breaking sales opening weekend
I seriously don't know how people are coming to the conclusion that sales aren't doing well.Anyway, I'm glad they're offering the SIM-free model much earlier this year! A good sign for me when I upgrade to the 7 next year. Heck, maybe it's a step toward offering the SIM-free model on launch day next year!
The reason why you can't activate voice & data is because on Verizon you need to add the feature code for Advanced Calling 1.0 and HD Voice. When I inserted the sim card into iPhone 6s Plus from iPhone 5 I was not able to activate voice & data until I added the feature code for Advanced Calling and HD Voice