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Carrier AT&T and Sprint Customers - Want an Unlocked iPhone Financed by the Carrier?

JulesJam

JulesJam

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Original poster
Sep 20, 2014
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Or subsidized on contract? Order from Best Buy online ship to home.

Best Buy is now selling "SIM-free" iPhones that follow the US Reseller Flex Policy. They are no longer selling the carrier models at least that is true of the iP7/7+. This explains why the SIM cards are not in the devices!! This has always been true of the iPhones purchased from Target and Walmart, btw.

These are identical hardware-wise to the Verizon/Sprint models with the Qualcomm modem. But they will follow the unlocking policy of whichever carrier's SIM card is in the device during the initial activation.

If you order your AT&T iP7/7+ from bestbuy.com, it comes with a SIM card that is not in the device. If instead of using that SIM that ships with the phone you use a Verizon postpaid SIM to initially activate the device, the device will follow Verizon's unlocking policy, which of course means it will be unlocked. You can then put your already active AT&T SIM in the device and it will work fine on AT&T and be unlocked. Your device will have the Qualcomm modem.

For Sprint, you can do the initial activation with a Verizon postpaid SIM and then can use the Sprint SIM card that shipped with the devivce to activate the phone on your Sprint line. But if you did the initial activation with a Verizon postpaid SIM, the device should be unlocked nonetheless.

I don't think you even need to use an active Verizon postpaid SIM for the initial activation; I think you can use an inactive one and activate over WiFi. Just don't use a Verizon prepaid SIM.

And for Verizon customers, the same is true so make sure that you use a Verizon postpaid SIM to do the initial activation. If you do not do that, your device will follow the unlocking policy of whichever carrier's SIM card is in the device during the initial activation. There has already been a report of a very sad Verizon customer that used a TMobile SIM to initially activate his Verizon iP7 - the phone is now locked to TMobile!
 
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Mikebuzzsaw said:
You can also walk into Apple store and buy the fully price Verizon iPHone 7. Those are unlocked and can be used with any carrier.
Click to expand...
Right but the point of this is if AT&T or Sprint customers have an upgrade available, they can get a carrier financed phone and still have it be unlocked.

The reason to do this is b/c:

1) people may need the carrier financing; and/or

2) carrier financed phones are often eligible for promos like $650 TIV, etc.
 
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JulesJam said:
Right but the point of this is if AT&T or Sprint customers have an upgrade available, they can get a carrier financed phone and still have it be unlocked.

The reason to do this is b/c:

1) people may need the carrier financing; and/or

2) carrier financed phones are often eligible for promos like $650 TIV, etc.
Click to expand...


If you have to explain....
 
And for Sprint, they still do 2 year contracts so a Sprint customer could order a subsidized iPhone 7/7+ through BB online on 2 year contract. Then when it arrived, put an inactive Verizon SIM card in it and activate it over WiFi. That would unlock the phone from Sprint.

Then they could factory reset the device, put the Sprint SIM in it that came with it, and reactivate it on their Sprint line. So they would have a subsidized iPhone that was unlocked from Sprint. Obviously they would need to complete their 2 year contract with Sprint or they would owe the ETF.
 
JulesJam said:
Or subsidized on contract? Order from Best Buy online ship to home.

Best Buy is now selling "SIM-free" iPhones that follow the US Reseller Flex Policy. They are no longer selling the carrier models at least that is true of the iP7/7+. This explains why the SIM cards are not in the devices!! This has always been true of the iPhones purchased from Target and Walmart, btw.

These are identical hardware-wise to the Verizon/Sprint models with the Qualcomm modem. But they will follow the unlocking policy of whichever carrier's SIM card is in the device during the initial activation.

If you order your AT&T iP7/7+ from bestbuy.com, it comes with a SIM card that is not in the device. If instead of using that SIM that ships with the phone you use a Verizon postpaid SIM to initially activate the device, the device will follow Verizon's unlocking policy, which of course means it will be unlocked. You can then put your already active AT&T SIM in the device and it will work fine on AT&T and be unlocked. Your device will have the Qualcomm modem.

For Sprint, you can do the initial activation with a Verizon postpaid SIM and then can use the Sprint SIM card that shipped with the devivce to activate the phone on your Sprint line. But if you did the initial activation with a Verizon postpaid SIM, the device should be unlocked nonetheless.

I don't think you even need to use an active Verizon postpaid SIM for the initial activation; I think you can use an inactive one and activate over WiFi. Just don't use a Verizon prepaid SIM.

And for Verizon customers, the same is true so make sure that you use a Verizon postpaid SIM to do the initial activation. If you do not do that, your device will follow the unlocking policy of whichever carrier's SIM card is in the device during the initial activation. There has already been a report of a very sad Verizon customer that used a TMobile SIM to initially activate his Verizon iP7 - the phone is now locked to TMobile!
Click to expand...


Can you confirm the Verizon inactive sim will work?
 
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