Activate without sim?

[ECAu]

I just got my T-mobile contract free iPhone 6 (bought from apple.com). I know that it suppose to be unlocked and if I replace the t-mobile sim before turn on and activate, it can be used with other carrier (I plan to use H2OWireless).

However, I didn't get my new nano card yet!!

Can I turn it on and restore the data from my old iPhone 4 before activate it without any sim card/carrier? Would it cause any trouble?

By the way, it may be a silly question. Is it normal iPhone doesn't come with a sim card removal tool? I have my iphone 4 from a friend so never noticed this.

 

[T5BRICK]

I just got my T-mobile contract free iPhone 6 (bought from apple.com). I know that it suppose to be unlocked and if I replace the t-mobile sim before turn on and activate, it can be used with other carrier (I plan to use H2OWireless).

However, I didn't get my new nano card yet!!

Can I turn it on and restore the data from my old iPhone 4 before activate it without any sim card/carrier? Would it cause any trouble?

I don't believe you can activate a phone without a SIM.

By the way, it may be a silly question. Is it normal iPhone doesn't come with a sim card removal tool? I have my iphone 4 from a friend so never noticed this.

I don't think any of my newer iPhones have come with a SIM removal tool. I have a whole drawer full of them though, so I don't care.

 

[Xarthan]

If you are impatient you can cut your sim card from your 4S to the size of a nano and slip it in.

 

[ECAu]

I don't believe you can activate a phone without a SIM.

I don't think any of my newer iPhones have come with a SIM removal tool. I have a whole drawer full of them though, so I don't care.

Thanks. I opened the sim slot with the same tool you have

If I turn it on and activate with the t-mobile card, can I switch to other company later? (anyone tried sim swap after activate?)

----------

If you are impatient you can cut your sim card from your 4S to the size of a nano and slip it in.

Almost want to do that.... but I'm afraid I'll ruin it and lose communication this weekend....

Should have get a sim cutter with Amazon prime instead of a new sim card (that was what I did when I switch from old phone to iPhone4).

 

[ronm99]

Thanks. I opened the sim slot with the same tool you have

If I turn it on and activate with the t-mobile card, can I switch to other company later? (anyone tried sim swap after activate?)

Activation is separate from the SIM card, and I think you only need an internet connection and you can use WiFi.

As far as I know, all unlocked phones can change their phone # simply by changing the SIM card (locked phones can do the same but are restricted to the same carrier). If you and your friend swap SIM cards, you will have each other's phone #'s (that is why it is not a bad idea to put a PIN on your SIM card).

Some carriers require you to register the IMEI number in order to use a phone with data on their network (I think AT&T does), but I don't think T-Mobile does.

You should be able to activate your new iPhone now, play with it on WiFi, and then insert your new SIM card when you get it.

If you want, you can try removing the SIM card during activation.

 

[hovscorpion12]

Need a SIM card to activate the iPhone. The SIM doesn't need to be activated, but you need a SIM

 

[doxielover]

Thanks. I opened the sim slot with the same tool you have

If I turn it on and activate with the t-mobile card, can I switch to other company later? (anyone tried sim swap after activate?)

----------



Almost want to do that.... but I'm afraid I'll ruin it and lose communication this weekend....

Should have get a sim cutter with Amazon prime instead of a new sim card (that was what I did when I switch from old phone to iPhone4).

I'm curious about this too. I have tmo prepaid but want to switch to AT&T later. Someone on another thread said it would be fine to activate with the tmo since that's what I have and it would not lock to it since I bought full price from Apple.

 

[ronm99]

I'm curious about this too. I have tmo prepaid but want to switch to AT&T later. Someone on another thread said it would be fine to activate with the tmo since that's what I have and it would not lock to it since I bought full price from Apple.

Activating will never lock the phone. The phone may come already locked to a particular carrier, but it is never locked to a SIM. Anyway ... since you paid full price, the phone should not be locked.

The only thing that I would worry about is that if you don't plan on using T-Mobile, activating the phone may actually start a T-Mobile contract that you don't want.

 

[Blorzoga]

I just got my T-mobile contract free iPhone 6 (bought from apple.com). I know that it suppose to be unlocked and if I replace the t-mobile sim before turn on and activate, it can be used with other carrier (I plan to use H2OWireless).

However, I didn't get my new nano card yet!!

Can I turn it on and restore the data from my old iPhone 4 before activate it without any sim card/carrier? Would it cause any trouble?

By the way, it may be a silly question. Is it normal iPhone doesn't come with a sim card removal tool? I have my iphone 4 from a friend so never noticed this.

You just need to have a sim card in the slot. Can be a completely non-working sim from any carrier. The sim removal tool should be on the inside flap of the instruction booklet (the tab you grab to lift the tray out of the box)

 

[ECAu]

Activating will never lock the phone. The phone may come already locked to a particular carrier, but it is never locked to a SIM.

The reason I concern about it is that in another thread, someone mentioned that the carrier may locked your phone on the time of activation. (someone mentioned that UK carrier does this?)

I'm afraid that if I turn on the phone with Tmo sim, it will be locked to Tmo. (I'm worry about my short trip to asia next week, too.)

 

[doxielover]

The reason I concern about it is that in another thread, someone mentioned that the carrier may locked your phone on the time of activation. (someone mentioned that UK carrier does this?)

I'm afraid that if I turn on the phone with Tmo sim, it will be locked to Tmo. (I'm worry about my short trip to asia next week, too.)

Try it and it it does return it and buy another one.

 

[stract]

another thread mentioned to remove the sim card before powering up the phone the first time, then turn on and plug into iTunes, and do a factory restore. When it reboots it should say "congrats your phone is unlocked" or something similar. Then you can put in a sim card and activate it.

 

[doxielover]

Activating will never lock the phone. The phone may come already locked to a particular carrier, but it is never locked to a SIM. Anyway ... since you paid full price, the phone should not be locked.

The only thing that I would worry about is that if you don't plan on using T-Mobile, activating the phone may actually start a T-Mobile contract that you don't want.

Why would it do that if it's unlocked? I have an active $30 prepaid tmo plan on micro sim I'm using now on my 4s. I would need to activate the nano sim since microsim to big. This won't lock it to Tmo permanately will it? I want it to remain unlocked in case I switch to AT&T

 

[ECAu]

"congrats your phone is unlocked"

I tried to turn on it without sim card and got "There is no SIM card installed in the iPhone you are attempting to activate" screen in iTune. No way to do a restore to factory test

 

[ronm99]

The reason I concern about it is that in another thread, someone mentioned that the carrier may locked your phone on the time of activation. (someone mentioned that UK carrier does this?)

I'm afraid that if I turn on the phone with Tmo sim, it will be locked to Tmo. (I'm worry about my short trip to asia next week, too.)

If the phone is unlocked, activating it will not lock it.

I have heard that some carriers will basically lock the SIM to the phone. What that means is that if you were to take the SIM card and put it in another phone, it would not work until you call your carrier and tell them you are using another phone. However, it is the SIM card that is locked to your phone and not the other way around.

----------

Why would it do that if it's unlocked? I have an active $30 prepaid tmo plan on micro sim I'm using now on my 4s. I would need to activate the nano sim since microsim to big. This won't lock it to Tmo permanately will it? I want it to remain unlocked in case I switch to AT&T

If the phone is unlocked, there is nothing that you can do that will cause the phone to become locked.

If you are already a T-Mobile customer, then what I said will not affect you. When you get your new iPhone and activate it with the SIM inside, it should de-register your old T-Mobile SIM card, and the SIM card in the iPhone will become your new T-Mobile SIM.

If you want to switch to AT&T, you will just need to go to AT&T to initiate a "port" of your phone number. They will give you a new SIM card, and when you register it on the network, your phone number will be transferred to the AT&T sim card, and your T-Mobile SIM card will be de-registered.

 

[wtnon6pls]

To lazy to read the post, but I activated my new tmob contract free iphone 6 + from apple with the free tmob sim and switched out the sim with a cricket sim later and I am on cricket now, no worries.