What happens if I buy a full price AT&T iPhone 6S through Apple and swap out the SIM card to a different carrier (say T-Mobile) before turning on the phone and activating it? Will I be able to use it for that other carrier? And do I need to order from Apple Online instead of a physical store? I'm under the impression that the physical stores activate the phone at the time of purchase whether your turn the phone on or not.
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Buying a full price AT&T 6S through Apple, swapping SIM before turning on
- Thread starter Trauma1
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Nothing changes by activating it with the carrier the phone is designed for. It does not matter either way. Apple may or may not let you buy the ATT variant without using an ATT SIM. For example, last year Apple did not let me buy the verizon model for full price until over a month after it was released. They actually restricted the phones to the carrier they were designed for, excluding the full price t-mobile one.
It seems this is a store by store policy and some enforce it and others do not.
I think you were unlucky. I am on AT&T and bought the Verizon model for full price in store by camping out the previous night. No questions asked. Went home, popped my AT&T sim in and I was good to go. A lot of my friends did the same thing and none of them bought from the same store as I did. Heck, not even the same state as I am in.
I am saying this only coz I am surprised you weren't allowed to buy. I haven't heard that happening with anyone I know, unless they were buying on contract or on the installment program.
I was shocked. Take my money please! Anyways, this time around I just went with the t-mobile variant since I can have it delivered and that was a nightmare experience.
Someone in a different thread mentioned they called their local store a few days ago and was told the same thing. Outside of the t-mobile variant they are making you activate the phone with the network it belongs with. Not sure what state/store that was.
Yes -- why can't Apple be carrier-agnostic without phones being locked to a particular carrier, especially when three major carriers (Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint) are getting the same model, A1688?
I was told by the Greenville, SC, store that the phone reserved has to be activated to that network, even if bought full price. A couple of online chats with Apple reps produced the same information.
A full-price T-Mobile seems the way to go for those of us using a prepaid MVNO. You're on Cricket, IIRC, Matt, so you're good with the T-Mobile variant. I'm on Selectel and was told by Selectel that Verizon has to whitelist the phone but there is no way to know for sure without purchasing the phone and giving Selectel the IMEI.
It would come with an ATT SIM, but you could just swap yours out if you have one. If not, it will come with one.