No this is not the case. Bought a T-mobile 6+ 128gb at the apple retail store. Popped in an AT&T sim the day I bought it and was good to go. Smooth, no problems at all.
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Apple to Begin Offering Unlocked, SIM-Free iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Models in the U.S. Tomorrow
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No this is not the case. Bought a T-mobile 6+ 128gb at the apple retail store. Popped in an AT&T sim the day I bought it and was good to go. Smooth, no problems at all.
Your are correct, but not because Sprint isn't GSM. Unlocked iPhones have CDMA and GSM radios built in and operational.
However, Sprint refuses to activate any phone that is not specifically marketed for use on Sprint, and not in their MEID whitelist. Even if the phone is perfectly cable of working on their network. For that reason only, these phones will not work.
tl;dr: They won't work because Sprint doesn't want them to.
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These won't have a T-Mobile SIM in the package, and might have a SIM eject tool. That's it.
They will not activate a new SIM inside of a "non-Verizon" iPhone, but if you already have an active SIM, the service will work just fine.
You get the little SIM add/removal tool with the SIM-Free version (something I didn't realize till getting the T-Mobile version this year which immediately popped in a AT&T SIM and worked perfectly).
It sure has taken them a long time to get to the release point for this version - should have it out on day 1.
This is called Apple kissing the mainstream carrier's behinds here in the U.S. (its something the carriers want, not Apple per se)...although in so many ways Apple is independent of U.S. carriers (requiring their apps, locking the bootloader like you see in Android world etc.), this is an area where Apple bows to them some (not selling the SIM free version till demand from the U.S. carriers versions are filled).
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So if I buy a non-subsidized 6 plus from Sprint, which I have, for $749,they won't unlock it for me? If by some chance they do, will it work on any other network?
I didn't realize how bad their LTE coverage was before I got the phone for my wife and me.
I didn't realize how bad their LTE coverage was before I got the phone for my wife and me.
Weird, mine worked on ATT since the day I bought it
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Yepp same here
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Even better, you can do it all yourself instead of relying on the savvy, competent ATT employee to wield the paperclip.
and that is a BS claim because I swapped mine and it showed locked to ATT....unless you're only talking about T-Mo
And considering you could buy a 100% fully unlocked phone on day 1 here in the states, I have no problem with Apple playing nice with the carrier on that. It made no difference, an educated consumer simply bought the Tmobile version and knew that it would work on ATT or any international carrier.
I wish Apple would provide these on day 1.
They did. They just called them "t-mobile".
Source: I bought one and used it on a different carrier
This is the skinny on the Unlocked iPhone
It is not a mere T-mobile phone without a SIM. This is what it is. It is unlocked and can be used on AT&T, T-mobile, Verizon or Sprint. It is more like a verizon phone. It has both GSM and CDMA capabilities. Apple employees have been able to get this phone for a couple of months.
In my opinion, in the future, this the only phone that should be offered with customer deciding how they want to activate it. It won't be long that subsidized pricing will be a thing of the past. Buy a single phone that can be used on whatever carrier you choose.
It is not a mere T-mobile phone without a SIM. This is what it is. It is unlocked and can be used on AT&T, T-mobile, Verizon or Sprint. It is more like a verizon phone. It has both GSM and CDMA capabilities. Apple employees have been able to get this phone for a couple of months.
In my opinion, in the future, this the only phone that should be offered with customer deciding how they want to activate it. It won't be long that subsidized pricing will be a thing of the past. Buy a single phone that can be used on whatever carrier you choose.
So have we here in the US
The T-Mobile/Unlocked version was available since release. Apple just has agreements in place with carriers to not advertise it as so until after the initial sales boom has died down.
Source: I own an UNLOCKED iPhone 6 Plus that came from an Apple Store and had a T-Mobile sim card inside.
This "release" is the same phone, just without the sim card in it.
That's not entirely true. I bought an iPhone six with a T-Mobile Sim card and I was able to activate my Sim from Ecuador perfectly fine here in the US. I also bought my sister and AT&T iPhone six and was able to activate her Sim card from Ecuador as well, with no problems whatsoever.
Verizon iPhones were unlocked on launch day. I know; I bought two. T-Mobile full price iPhones are/were also unlocked on launch day.
My first post here but I have been reading the MacRumors Forum for years.
My little question is what model versions of the unlocked iPhones Apple will be selling. I wonder if they will be model A1586 for the iPhone 6 and Model A1524 for the iPhone 6+.
These models seems to be the best for unlocked iPhones.
My little question is what model versions of the unlocked iPhones Apple will be selling. I wonder if they will be model A1586 for the iPhone 6 and Model A1524 for the iPhone 6+.
These models seems to be the best for unlocked iPhones.
This is what I want. A phone that is ready for both GSM and CDMA. If I had known they would offer a phone like this two weeks later, I would have waited. I bought the T-Mobile online and picked it up at the Apple Store. I haven't used the Sim or used it as a phone yet. It's sat in the box, although they had me login to my apple account on the phone when I got it. I was just going to use the phone as an update to my old iPod Touch until I picked decided whether to add a data plan to my existing ATT account or switch to T-mobile. Finally, last night I synced/restored the new iPhone to my iPod backup via iTunes. And then I read this? Wonder if they'll still let me swap it at the store. I'd like the ability to go to Verizon if T-Mobile doesn't work out.
I just checked the Apple store(Canada) and saw that the sim free iPhone 6/6+ which they have been offering since launch, doesn't have the 4 additional TD-LTE bands which is available only on the sprint models(A1586/A1524) here in the US. Therefore this might just be the same contract free phones(T-mob/AT&T/Verizon) which you can buy directly from the apple store. The only difference now is that they are calling it sim free and not contract free.
Would Verizon still activate a sim free phone? Or is the Verizon model purchased at full price from the apple store still the most versatile iPhone 6/6+? Like another poster alluded to earlier, Verizon refused to activate a sim free/unlocked iPhone 5S, as it was not a verizon phone.
I have a ATT 6+, but I am now living in Poland. Anyone tried using "myimeiunlock.com" or a similar service? I'd like to use my 6+ with a Polish SIM and put my ATT SIM into my old 4S.
Disclaimer: I only mention the major carriers.
I don't think your statement is true. I think there is a lot of confusion about this and I did some research. Here is what I found, I believe this to be true but could be mistaken.
The unlocked T-Mobile phone is A1549 (6) and A1522 (6+). This is the GSM model and supports GSM and LTE. Both At&T and T-Mobile are GSM carriers and you could easily jump to AT&T using an unlocked T-Mobile phone. This type of phone is the most limited and supports the fewest bands.
There is a CDMA version of A1549 and A1522 which is typically sold by Verizon. This phone supports GSM, LTE and CDMA (a little more versatile). So an unlocked version of this phone would theoretically work on AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint. Although the carriers limit this by "whitelisting" devices issued under their name, essentially blacklisting devices issues under other carriers. I've read lost of conflicting accounts on what the carriers allow. Sprint seems to be the worst and probably for the reason below.
Sprint offers a third version A1586 (6) and A1524 (6+). This model has only been available via Sprint and is ALWAYS sold locked. This model supports GSM, LTE and CDMA but also supports TD-LTE and TD-SCDMA. "You can get access to TD-LTE and TD-SCDMA bands which opens up use to basically every carrier in the world, this will prove to be especially useful in China." This phone is the most versatile and previously was only available in a locked version.
I'm assuming that Apple will be selling the A1586/A1524 versions as the "SIM-Free" version. Unlocked and compatible with almost every carrier in the world.
Lots of articles out there about this. I found this one to be the clearest.
Sprint phone
I think scaredpoet is right on all counts. We just bought a Sprint iPhone 6 to send back to China. We believe it will work on both China Unicom and China Mobile, which are CDMA and GSM networks respectively. We think this because - I think - all the phone are basically multi-band/multi-protocol wrt the cell network.
We bought the Sprint model A1586 because Sprint and China use a similar LTE network (TDD, 2500 MHz and Band 41). Presumably, Sprint phones are locked in the U.S. but unlocked internationally. Can't confirm that, however.
We were in a T-Mobile store a few days ago and were told by an employee (perhaps incorrectly) that, if we buy a full-price, no contract T-Mobile model, we must buy 1 month of pay-as-you-go and after a few weeks call T-Mobile and they will give us an unlock code.
GF's China Unicom CDMA iPhone 4 works fine using a T-Mobile SIM here; an unlocked ATT iPhone 5s is working well using a China Unicom CDMA SIM in China. Her iphone 4 with the China unicom SIM in it connected to ATT here (showing that even the 4 is operationally multi-radio, both GSM and CDMA).
Didn't think to try the iPhone 6 here on an activated T-Mobile SIM. SP is correct that Sprint will not connect your phone to their network unless it is a Sprint phone - but an already activated Sprint SIM will connect a compliant phone.
I'm posting here because we did most of our research at macrumors.com. If things go awry or I have new info to report I will post it somewhere here at macrumors.
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I think scaredpoet is right on all counts. We just bought a Sprint iPhone 6 to send back to China. We believe it will work on both China Unicom and China Mobile, which are CDMA and GSM networks respectively. We think this because - I think - all the phone are basically multi-band/multi-protocol wrt the cell network.
We bought the Sprint model A1586 because Sprint and China use a similar LTE network (TDD, 2500 MHz and Band 41). Presumably, Sprint phones are locked in the U.S. but unlocked internationally. Can't confirm that, however.
We were in a T-Mobile store a few days ago and were told by an employee (perhaps incorrectly) that, if we buy a full-price, no contract T-Mobile model, we must buy 1 month of pay-as-you-go and after a few weeks call T-Mobile and they will give us an unlock code.
GF's China Unicom CDMA iPhone 4 works fine using a T-Mobile SIM here; an unlocked ATT iPhone 5s is working well using a China Unicom CDMA SIM in China. Her iphone 4 with the China unicom SIM in it connected to ATT here (showing that even the 4 is operationally multi-radio, both GSM and CDMA).
Didn't think to try the iPhone 6 here on an activated T-Mobile SIM. SP is correct that Sprint will not connect your phone to their network unless it is a Sprint phone - but an already activated Sprint SIM will connect a compliant phone.
I'm posting here because we did most of our research at macrumors.com. If things go awry or I have new info to report I will post it somewhere here at macrumors.
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Thanks, jadallahyk. We just bought the Sprint A1586 and it went to China yesterday. Did not even take it out of the box. So, I can't comment about removing SIMS, etc. Maybe I will know more later.