G'day!
I currently live in the USA (US/Aussie dual-citizen) and I am thinking of getting an iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular to occasionally use LTE here on Verizon's network while I live here. I am planning to move back to Australia in spring 2013.
What I want to know is if I will need to have Verizon unlock the iPad mini in order to use LTE on one of the networks (Telstra or Optus) in Australia.
According to this web page on Apple's site:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/LTE/
the Verizon compatible version of the mini (model number A1445) is also compatible with the Optus, Virgin & Telstra in Australia.
According to the footnote 2 at the end of the page:
"iPad models are unlocked and may support LTE networks outside the country of purchase when using a valid SIM from a supported carrier. Contact your carrier for more details."
So the answer to my question is most likely that all I would need to do is remove the Verizon SIM and replace it with either an Optus or Telstra SIM once I am Australia.
HOWEVER when I was discussing this with an Apple Store employee today he seemed to be under the impression I would first need to have Verizon "unlock" the iPad mini to let this happen.
Of course he may have been mistaken and I hope he was, but I thought it would be worth asking the community here for input, in the hope that someone might have already tried this with the iPad 3 and one of the countries which had a compatible LTE network for it.
(I don't recall which countries outside of the USA that LTE was available on when using the iPad 3, but Australia was not one of them. That changed when the iPad 4 and iPad mini were released.)
Thanks in advance!
I currently live in the USA (US/Aussie dual-citizen) and I am thinking of getting an iPad mini Wi-Fi + Cellular to occasionally use LTE here on Verizon's network while I live here. I am planning to move back to Australia in spring 2013.
What I want to know is if I will need to have Verizon unlock the iPad mini in order to use LTE on one of the networks (Telstra or Optus) in Australia.
According to this web page on Apple's site:
http://www.apple.com/ipad/LTE/
the Verizon compatible version of the mini (model number A1445) is also compatible with the Optus, Virgin & Telstra in Australia.
According to the footnote 2 at the end of the page:
"iPad models are unlocked and may support LTE networks outside the country of purchase when using a valid SIM from a supported carrier. Contact your carrier for more details."
So the answer to my question is most likely that all I would need to do is remove the Verizon SIM and replace it with either an Optus or Telstra SIM once I am Australia.
HOWEVER when I was discussing this with an Apple Store employee today he seemed to be under the impression I would first need to have Verizon "unlock" the iPad mini to let this happen.
Of course he may have been mistaken and I hope he was, but I thought it would be worth asking the community here for input, in the hope that someone might have already tried this with the iPad 3 and one of the countries which had a compatible LTE network for it.
(I don't recall which countries outside of the USA that LTE was available on when using the iPad 3, but Australia was not one of them. That changed when the iPad 4 and iPad mini were released.)
Thanks in advance!
