Carrier Can I pop my T-Mobile iPad SIM into a Verizon or AT&T iPad?

[dmk1974]

I currently have an iPad Mini retina LTE that I bought from T-Mobile in April. Has the 200 MB/mo free plan plus the 1GB/mo plan (free til the end of the year).

If I were to buy another iPad Mini Retina with more storage or even a LTE iPad Air, but a Verizon or AT&T version, can I just pop in my T-Mobile sim and use it? Or are the Verizon and AT&T iPads locked to the carriers? Thanks!

 

[RetiredInFl]

I currently have an iPad Mini retina LTE that I bought from T-Mobile in April. Has the 200 MB/mo free plan plus the 1GB/mo plan (free til the end of the year).

If I were to buy another iPad Mini Retina with more storage or even a LTE iPad Air, but a Verizon or AT&T version, can I just pop in my T-Mobile sim and use it? Or are the Verizon and AT&T iPads locked to the carriers? Thanks!

AT&T yes, Verizon, NO. If you had bought a Verizon one you could use any SIM. They are unlocked but have no CDMA radio, GSM only.

 

[dmk1974]

AT&T yes, Verizon, NO. If you had bought a Verizon one you could use any SIM. They are unlocked but have no CDMA radio, GSM only.

Great, thanks!

 

[TheIntruder]

For the celluar iPad Air and rMini, there is only one hardware model, which is identical regardless of carrier.

Technically, the GSM portion is completely unlocked for all of them.

So yes, a Verizon, AT&T, or even Sprint model SKU will work with a T-Mo SIM.

I have one in my VZW model with the 200MB freebie plan.

But, you won't be able to use a non-specific Verizon or Sprint model on their networks. People have found ways around it with VZW, but it's YMMV. Sprint locks out anything without their brand.

It goes one way, but not the other with those two carriers.

 

[mtneer]

I am typing this on a Verizon rMini running on T-Mobile 200MB free plan. I had to call T-Mobile the first time I popped the SIM in to get the IMEI in their system (it wouldn't recognize their network before that). But since then I have had no trouble switching back and forth between T-Mobile and Verizon.

 

[dmk1974]

I know there's speculation of a refresh next month (curious what the improvements would be other than A8 and finger scanner). But was looking at getting an LTE Verizon 32GB iPad retina Mini for $370. Seems like a decent price. Should I go for it?

 

[Farrellcollie]

I have a verizon ipad air and a verizon mini retina and I have t-mobile sims in both and get the 200mb free each month. I just popped the old sims out and added the new ones following directions I found on this site about turning the wifi off and so forth. Worked just fine.