AT&T iPhone 4S - Will it work if I use other country SIM cards when I travel?

[iVoid]

Hmm.. I have a hard time imagining how exactly this would work. The unlock is controlled by Apple, so how would your phone automatically switch between locked and unlocked based on geography? Sounds implausible.

Actually, it's easy. The phone has to talk to the cell towers to communicate anyway. All Apple needs to know is the carriers in each country and respond accordingly.

So it doesn't need to use GPS or any fancy method. It already has to get identifying info from the cell towers, so it just uses that. So if it's a Verizon phone, it won't talk to a AT&T sim/tower, but it would to any international cell tower/sim outside the US.

 

[thewitt]

There is a great deal of conflicting information floating around over the voracity of the lock, Verizon issuing GSM SIM cards, even different phone models - much of this is incorrect and still just driven by speculation and rumor.

For now I would assume that any carrier locked phone is just that - locked to one carrier. You are not gong to be able to buy a subsidized Verizon CDMA/GSM phone is the US, walk away from your Verizon contract and run it unlocked on GSM. That would be stupid business on Verizon's part...

Though it's theoretically possible you can use another SIM in another country on a locked phone it's highly unlikely. No other phone does this today. Why would the iPhone 4S suddenly have this ability. Your world access phone will roam when you are outside your home carrier's range.... Count on that.

If you need carrier flexibility, you will have to wait for an unlocked phone in November. It's not a new or different piece of hardware, it's simply being held off until November to give those committed carriers a chance to cash in on iPhone 4S fever for the first month.

-t

 

[iVoid]

You are not gong to be able to buy a subsidized Verizon CDMA/GSM phone is the US, walk away from your Verizon contract and run it unlocked on GSM. That would be stupid business on Verizon's part...

I have no intention of walking away from my Verizon contract.

If you need carrier flexibility, you will have to wait for an unlocked phone in November.

Actually, by the way Apple describes it on their site, the unlocked iPhone 4S isn't that flexible since it can't do CMDA.

 

[thewitt]

There is no such thing as unlocked CDMA. The unlocked phone will still be able to connect To a CDMA network - its the same hardware - however you will have to sign a contract with the CDMA carrier and use THEIR GSM SIM as well, though this may be from a partner network.

The CDMA carrier would have to give you the option of using anyone's SIM card instead or roaming. There is no incentive for them to do so...

-t

 

[ps2pk]

Though it's theoretically possible you can use another SIM in another country on a locked phone it's highly unlikely. No other phone does this today. Why would the iPhone 4S suddenly have this ability. Your world access phone will roam when you are outside your home carrier's range.... Count on that.

-t

Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2 has a sim card and is unlocked for international use from the factory. It's been done before. Motorola Photon also has the same ability. It's interesting to also see the iPhone 4S there as it wasn't there yesterday.

http://www.sprint.com/popups/international/devices_advanced_worldmode_popup.html

Also to buy subsidized on sprint and then cancelling would be pretty much the same as buying factory unlocked.

iPhone $220
ETF - $350
1 month service - $80
= $650.

I have a good feeling Sprint iPhone will work overseas with a sim from that country. Just take out the sprint sim and insert the local sim and it should work.

 

[butterfly0fdoom]

There is no such thing as unlocked CDMA. The unlocked phone will still be able to connect To a CDMA network - its the same hardware - however you will have to sign a contract with the CDMA carrier and use THEIR GSM SIM as well, though this may be from a partner network.

The CDMA carrier would have to give you the option of using anyone's SIM card instead or roaming. There is no incentive for them to do so...

-t

GSM stores identifier tags on the SIM card. CDMA has the identifier tags encoded into phone. This is the reason there is no "unlocked" CDMA phones. At the same time, in the process of encoding a "world phone", it is possible to lock out specific carrier SIM cards.

Sprint HTC Touch Pro 2 has a sim card and is unlocked for international use from the factory. It's been done before. Motorola Photon also has the same ability. It's interesting to also see the iPhone 4S there as it wasn't there yesterday.

Also to buy subsidized on sprint and then cancelling would be pretty much the same as buying factory unlocked.

iPhone $220
ETF - $350
1 month service - $80
= $650.

I have a good feeling Sprint iPhone will work overseas with a sim from that country. Just take out the sprint sim and insert the local sim and it should work.

You may as well just buy an unlocked iPhone at that rate.

 

[eastercat]

Considering that people have reported they had the option of an international roaming plan when they signed up with Verizon, do we need to continue this thread?

 

[butterfly0fdoom]

Considering that people have reported they had the option of an international roaming plan when they signed up with Verizon, do we need to continue this thread?

Not necessarily, but having the option of an international roaming plan from Verizon means the phone will come with a Vodafone micro-SIM and could imply that the phone is locked to that SIM when out of the US.

 

[tivoboy]

nope

there is simply no way that the CDMA version of the iphone 4s, for sprint and verizon have an unlocked GSM SIM access, enabling anyone to put any out of the USA SIM chip in them in other countries and use the phone on GSM networks freely. It's not going to happen, verizon and sprint don't operate that way and never have. They wil GIVE you a SIM, which will allow you to roam with their terms/conditions/PRICING but it is not going to be a simple open unlocked GSM SIM slot

 

[ps2pk]

there is simply no way that the CDMA version of the iphone 4s, for sprint and verizon have an unlocked GSM SIM access, enabling anyone to put any out of the USA SIM chip in them in other countries and use the phone on GSM networks freely. It's not going to happen, verizon and sprint don't operate that way and never have. They wil GIVE you a SIM, which will allow you to roam with their terms/conditions/PRICING but it is not going to be a simple open unlocked GSM SIM slot

Uhh this is wrong.

Sprint already offers a few phones that have this capability most recent being the Motorola Photon 4G. It does come with a Sprint sim but if you're in Europe you can just insert a vodefone sim and it works.

You're right that a Sprint phone will not work with ATT but if going by their previous phones it *should* be unlocked for overseas. I've used my old HTC Touch Pro 2 overseas without any problems and that also came with a Sprint sim.

 

[tivoboy]

what

Uhh this is wrong.

Sprint already offers a few phones that have this capability most recent being the Motorola Photon 4G. It does come with a Sprint sim but if you're in Europe you can just insert a vodefone sim and it works.

You're right that a Sprint phone will not work with ATT but if going by their previous phones it *should* be unlocked for overseas. I've used my old HTC Touch Pro 2 overseas without any problems and that also came with a Sprint sim.

what about this is wrong? there is no way the CDMA version of the IPHONE 4S from sprint or verizon is going to be SIM unlocked for use with ANY foreign SIM outside the USA. It just isn't going to be that way. If it does work that way, i'll eat my shoe live on youtube while standing in line waiting to get my sprint phone with an unlocked GSM SIM slot!

 

[ps2pk]

what about this is wrong? there is no way the CDMA version of the IPHONE 4S from sprint or verizon is going to be SIM unlocked for use with ANY foreign SIM outside the USA. It just isn't going to be that way. If it does work that way, i'll eat my shoe live on youtube while standing in line waiting to get my sprint phone with an unlocked GSM SIM slot!

I don't see why it would be a huge deal.

1. Sprint doesn't care if you buy and then cancel. They still make $650 either way.
2. They've done it with many of their other phones.
3. Like with the HTC Touch Pro 2 and Photon it should be sim locked in the USA but unlocked elsewhere.

Off course this is the iPhone so things might change but I'm just looking at it from what they've done to similar phones in the past.

And you said they never operate that way and never have. Check my link a few posts up. Most of those phones are sim unlocked overseas.

 

[kdarling]

what about this is wrong? there is no way the CDMA version of the IPHONE 4S from sprint or verizon is going to be SIM unlocked for use with ANY foreign SIM outside the USA. It just isn't going to be that way. If it does work that way, i'll eat my shoe live on youtube while standing in line waiting to get my sprint phone with an unlocked GSM SIM slot!

Don't know about Sprint, but Verizon has done it for years.

As pointed out several times already, Verizon will gladly unlock the GSM side of their World Phones for non-USA SIM use (upon request by a customer in good standing).

The only thing that would hold them back from doing the same thing with the iPhone, would be if Apple prevented it.

 

[0970373]

The only thing that would hold them back from doing the same thing with the iPhone, would be if Apple prevented it.

Eh...I wouldn't be so sure. Apple could care less about where/what carrier you use it on as long as you have one. As with AT&T unlocking, this is at the discretion of the carrier.