Sprint Denies Report of Unlocked Micro-SIM in iPhone 4S

[cube]

So what's the point of selling locked GSM "World" phone if you can't use other SIM... then it's not a world phone... Crap!

If it's compatible with any network it's a world phone. This has nothing to do to with being forced to roam, and not being able to choose provider.

 

[mds]

That sucks. I was very excited about this since I travel so much. I've been a happy Sprint customer for 10 years and always had to use a different phone when I leave the states. Being able to use a local sim in other countries was going to be a huge benefit for me. I guess now I have to wait for ultrasn0w or something to work on iOS5.

 

[Trauma1]

nope there are other phones available with both CDMA/GSM it is not invented by Apple.

Which ones? I'm looking and I can't find any dual-mode phones currently being sold by both CDMA and GSM carriers in the US.

 

[rjohnstone]

Sprint and Verizon can do this cause the US Government lets these companies do whatever the hell they want. They can do ridiculous things like this cause there is nobody to challenge them. Got to love capitalism..

There is simply no reason for Sprint to cripple a device just in the name of profit...

Yes, there is.
Sprint, Verizon and AT&T have the right to make a profit.
Don't like their price, vote with your wallet.
And stop with the "no competition" mantra. There are 4 major carriers, soon to be 3.
As long as there's more than one, you have a choice.

Remember, you can always pay full retail for an unlocked/unsubsidized phone.
Don't like that price, complain to Apple about it.

Which ones? I'm looking and I can't find any dual-mode phones currently being sold by both CDMA and GSM carriers in the US.

Blackberry Bold is a world phone.

 

[cameronjpu]

To think of all the sales they're missing out on...

Yeah, sales to cheapskates who want the cheapest and only unlimited plan in the states and will not pay Sprint anything extra when traveling overseas.

Put it this way - look at all the sales Apple is missing out on by not selling a $400 laptop.

----------

Sprint and Verizon can do this cause the US Government lets these companies do whatever the hell they want. They can do ridiculous things like this cause there is nobody to challenge them. Got to love capitalism..

There is simply no reason for Sprint to cripple a device just in the name of profit...

Isn't "profit" the reason you say there simply isn't?

----------

There is some confusion over the term "unlocked".

Aren't the phones for AT&T, Verizon and Sprint basically the same? And "world-capable"?

If the GSM SIM were "unlocked", and you were on Sprint or Verizon, what's to prevent you from using a US-based SIM (such as H2O) in the US?

In other words, do you really expect Verizon & Sprint to sell an unlocked GSM phone (that works on CDMA) that Apple will be selling for $450 more?

BlackBerry has sold world phones through Verizon, and "unlocking" the GSM SIM basically meant you could use GSM overseas - the phone was still locked to the SIM that came with it.

Locked or unlocked, you still have to sign a contract and pay it. So yes, you'd expect them to sell it unlocked. Not sure why Apple is allowing this - that's the company you all should be upset with. Clearly Apple didn't care to negotiate that point with the carriers.

 

[Trauma1]

Blackberry Bold is a world phone.

I only see that currently being sold on Verizon, not AT&T.

Verizon currently sells the BlackBerry Bold 9930. AT&T did sell the BlackBerry Bold 9000. So that's still two different models.

 

[cameronjpu]

No one would do that -- they'd still have to pay the early cancellation penalty. I don't know what that is on Sprint, but I'm pretty sure on Verizon it's $350 -- enough to recover the phone subsidy, even at the beginning of the contract.

Your math is pretty bad. Unlocked iPhone costs $649. Same iPhone with subsidy is $199. Tell me, what's the difference between those numbers?

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Yes, there is.
Sprint, Verizon and AT&T have the right to make a profit.
Don't like their price, vote with your wallet.

Just a minor correction, as I agree with your thrust... no company has the right to make a profit They have the right to TRY to make a profit. Some dummies out there really do companies have a right to make a profit, and that consumers have a right to own a home... etc etc etc.

 

[kdarling]

I think you're right -- Apple may be the first one who has done this as a product simplification (that is, to reduce the number of variants they build, as opposed to as a way to give CDMA phones more international usability).

Yes, but not JUST as a product simplification, otherwise they'd not allow Sprint or Verizon to use the GSM side.

I highly suspect that Verizon had a hand in it, as they have been big on dual mode phones for the past few years. If I were a betting man, I'd guess that Apple charges Sprint and Verizon a wee bit more just to allow both modes... partly because Apple would owe more license fees (GSM + CDMA).

With that in mind, it's possible that the phones sold by anyone other than Verizon or Sprint will never have their CDMA sides available. In other words, that you could not move from ATT to Sprint using the same iPhone 4S. Has anyone said anything about that? Otherwise this would be a nightmare for ATT.

 

[mkrishnan]

With that in mind, it's possible that the phones sold by anyone other than Verizon or Sprint will never have their CDMA sides available. In other words, that you could not move from ATT to Sprint using the same iPhone 4S. Has anyone said anything about that? Otherwise this would be a nightmare for ATT.

This seems to be correct, but we'll have to wait and see.

 

[mrmoe]

Crap! I didn't know that! It's incredible that none of this non-sense happens with other phones. Only with the iPhone. And I don't believe it's Apple's idea, but the U.S. Carriers forcing their conditions to Apple.

I never had to pay extra to tether my phone with T-Mobile, but now carriers want to charge an extra "tethering fee". All thanks to darn AT&T that keeps coming up with these stupid ideas.

Actually I misspoke - you cannot use Sprint or Verizon with the unlocked phone - only AT&T and TMobile (2G of course). I just want to be able to pop in an international SIM and will figure out a way to do it if Sprint doesn't help me.

 

[Trauma1]

Yes, but not JUST as a product simplification, otherwise they'd not allow Sprint or Verizon to use the GSM side.

I highly suspect that Verizon had a hand in it, as they have been big on dual mode phones for the past few years. If I were a betting man, I'd guess that Apple charges Sprint and Verizon a wee bit more just to allow both modes... partly because Apple would owe more license fees (GSM + CDMA).

With that in mind, it's possible that the phones sold by anyone other than Verizon or Sprint will never have their CDMA sides available. In other words, that you could not move from ATT to Sprint using the same iPhone 4S. Has anyone said anything about that? Otherwise this would be a nightmare for ATT.

I have the exact same thoughts, which is why I'm following this subject closely.

And toss in iOS 5's "PC Free", over the air activation into the mix, and there's another variable to think about when it comes to actually activating the phone with the carriers for the first time.

 

[mrmoe]

Yeah, sales to cheapskates who want the cheapest and only unlimited plan in the states and will not pay Sprint anything extra when traveling overseas.

Put it this way - look at all the sales Apple is missing out on by not selling a $400 laptop.

Dude, they can charge me $650 for the phone as long as I can do whatever I want with it. I already pay into the ecosystem by owning a macbook pro, an ipad (probably get the 3) and of course, an iphone. Either way, everyone here should unlock their iphones no matter who the carrier is, by any means necessary. This whole lockdown business is silly in the first place.

 

[dksram]

C'mon people. Did you really think that the carriers would just say, Hey lets give them a phone that allows free international access without paying.

 

[chandra.hp]

This is making me reconsider. I was dead set on going with Sprint. But I was really hoping the 4s with the world phone capability would allow me to use international prepaid sim cards. Let's see Verizon's stance on this and then I will decide.

Yikes... the consumers just can't win when it comes to the iPhone. Completed locked phones or expensive data plans and devices. I guess this is to be expected for a premium device.

 

[kalex]

Yes, there is.
Sprint, Verizon and AT&T have the right to make a profit.
Don't like their price, vote with your wallet.
And stop with the "no competition" mantra. There are 4 major carriers, soon to be 3.
As long as there's more than one, you have a choice.

did u actually see what has been happing recently? if u still think there is competition gets your head out of your arse. Verizon, att, sprint all raised their prices. Its basically one jumps and rest follow. Thats not competition, its price collusion and eventually someone will sue them and put a stop to it. Look at Europe and look at their wireless pricing. It has been steadily going down, not up. Thats called competition. In USA its not. First att is trying to get rid of tmobile and once they succeed, verizon will most likely follow and buy sprint. Then they are free to raise pricing even more.

----------

Yes, there is.
Sprint, Verizon and AT&T have the right to make a profit.
Don't like their price, vote with your wallet.
And stop with the "no competition" mantra. There are 4 major carriers, soon to be 3.
As long as there's more than one, you have a choice.

Remember, you can always pay full retail for an unlocked/unsubsidized phone.
Don't like that price, complain to Apple about it.



Blackberry Bold is a world phone.

C'mon people. Did you really think that the carriers would just say, Hey lets give them a phone that allows free international access without paying.

Sprint done it for years. I have an old Blackberry Tour and its international part is fully unlocked and was never locked by sprint. Its only being done on iphone now. Other world devices were always unlocked

 

[LordJohnWhorfin]

Rip-off central

What I find outrageous is that if you're already under contract your carrier will gladly sell you a LOCKED phone at full price, which is the same price Apple will charge you for an UNLOCKED phone. And also that Sprint and Verizon will not activate unlocked phones purchased from Apple.

One more thing: 3G and 4G is so ridiculously misleading at this point it's hard to understand what you're getting. My understanding is this:
Sprint currently offers 4G using WiMax technology which it is abandoning for LTE in 2013 (while claiming they will still support WiMax). Their 3G is EVDO Rev. A.
Verizon offers 4G using LTE and their 3G is also EVDO Rev. A.
AT&T offers a 3G service that is, on the iPhone 4s, faster than the 4G offerings from Sprint and Verizon. Even on the older iPhone 4, their 3G is almost twice as fast as Sprint and Verizon's EVDO.
Hope I'm summing it up correctly.

 

[Tiger8]

Why is it ok for AT&T and Verizon but not Sprint?

Some of you guys surprise me, so why is it ok that both AT&T and Verizon phones are locked, and Sprint is supposed to 'open up' their SIM card? This is not the first CMDA 'World Phone' there are dozens of blackberrys that are this way, how come it is such a big deal now?

Don't forget over half this country does not even have a passport.

----------

What a load of horse crap. I guess the best bet is to just buy the factory unlocked iPhone and use it with AT&T in the US and anyone else outside the country.

It seems you cannot use the factory unlocked on the CDMA networks.

AT&T wins I guess.

Yes, they win. Because locked or unlocked you will still pay at least $40 + $15 for a 200 MB and no texting plan, same as anyone who got the locked phone, of which $18 a month are pure money in their pockets, since you are subsidizing a phone that you already bought.

Keep that phone for a year, and you would have overpaid $18 x 12 = $216.

Great deal indeed.

The only way an unlocked phone would make sense is if you go for a prepaid T-Mobile or Straighttalk plan, at $30 or $45 a month, that's a deal, but you have to put up with EDGE network

 

[WannaGoMac]

Some of you guys surprise me, so why is it ok that both AT&T and Verizon phones are locked, and Sprint is supposed to 'open up' their SIM card? This is not the first CMDA 'World Phone' there are dozens of blackberrys that are this way, how come it is such a big deal now?

Don't forget over half this country does not even have a passport.

----------



Yes, they win. Because locked or unlocked you will still pay at least $40 + $15 for a 200 MB and no texting plan, same as anyone who got the locked phone, of which $18 a month are pure money in their pockets, since you are subsidizing a phone that you already bought.

Keep that phone for a year, and you would have overpaid $18 x 12 = $216.

Great deal indeed.

The only way an unlocked phone would make sense is if you go for a prepaid T-Mobile or Straighttalk plan, at $30 or $45 a month, that's a deal, but you have to put up with EDGE network

Switch then the Virgin mobile if you don't like it
No contract, $50/month for unlimited everything.

 

[Shanpdx]

What about boost mobile prepaid plans ? ...

 

[Tiger8]

What about boost mobile prepaid plans ? ...

Unfortunately neither Boost nor Virgin, though they both are owned by and operate on Sprint network, are compatible with any of Sprints phones. Very weird.

T-Mobile would have been a serious iPhone competitor have they had their 3G band compatible (with the rest of the world). I would have personally bought an unlocked one and used prepaid cards.

But if you want speed, you are stuck with one of the big three, and might as well get a contract since you are paying for it anyway every month

 

[scapula002]

Sprint -Quickster goes napster

WTF. i was thinking seriously of jumping to Sprint. Now they can f%$# themselves off. iDiots

 

[Caliber26]

Well, so much for that.

 

[nanotlj]

We US mobile customers are being totally screwed.
Why our phones get locked when two years' contract is on with huge ETF?
Why ETF is payed, the phone is still locked?
Why the phone is still locked even after the contract?
So many unfair stupid policies from these ****ing greedy mobile companies!
Yes. Unfortunately we have no choices here!

 

[kdarling]

Unlocked iPhone costs $649. Same iPhone with subsidy is $199. Tell me, what's the difference between those numbers?

It's been well established over the past few years that the iPhone subsidy has averaged about $350 ($325-$375). A month's plan plus the $350 ETF should pay for it.

It sounds like they're charging an extra $75-$100 for selling it unlocked.

C'mon people. Did you really think that the carriers would just say, Hey lets give them a phone that allows free international access without paying.

Yes, and for good reason. One more time:

Verizon and Sprint have always allowed GSM unlocking with all their previous World Phones. They come with their SIMs if you want to use their expensive overseas plans with your same phone number, or you can ask for an unlock code and use cheaper overseas SIMs instead. Either way was fine with them. (They didn't care if you don't use their plans overseas, since you were still in a contract at home.)

Some of those unlocked world phones, especially Blackberrys, even worked in the US with ATT and TMobile. I haven't tried with my dual mode Droid Incredible 2, though.

So yeah, it's a bit surprising if Sprint won't unlock the iPhone. It'll be even more surprising if Verizon doesn't follow their usual way, either.

 

[WannaGoMac]

Cell company reps have NO idea what they are selling. Back and forth multiple times, see below

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/12/sprint-and-verizon-confirm-iphone-4s-micro-sim-unlock-for-intern