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guychicago

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 25, 2010
325
182
Chicago
I'm planning to buy an t-mobile iPhone 6 full price from the Apple Store. Is it factory unlocked?
 
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Can anyone who is using another service like at&t or using an international sim confirm this?
 
I can confirm this. I am using my T-Mobile 6+ on AT&T. I just put the AT&T SIM from my AT&T 5S in and it worked straight away. LTE and visual voicemail work fine. I bought the phone full-price from an Apple Store.
 
If you can wait till the last week of November; you can get the real "Factory Unlocked" models that Apple releases at that time!
 
Can anyone who is using another service like at&t or using an international sim confirm this?

Just FYI, this has been discussed A LOT in other threads. A very brief search should have revealed many people attesting to this and saved you the effort of waiting for a direct answer. I personally can vouch for two full-price T-Mobile iphone6's purchased from Apple that are running on AT&T SIMs.


If you can wait till the last week of November; you can get the real "Factory Unlocked" models that Apple releases at that time!
... and this would gain the OP exactly what benefit?

Both the 5 and 5S "SIM free" models were the same as the unlocked T-Mobile or AT&T models and had no additional bands. See https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ and look at A1428 and A1533 which are the 5 and 5S SIM-free.

If you have any evidence to suggest they'll do something different, do please present the citation.
 
Just FYI, this has been discussed A LOT in other threads. A very brief search should have revealed many people attesting to this and saved you the effort of waiting for a direct answer. I personally can vouch for two full-price T-Mobile iphone6's purchased from Apple that are running on AT&T SIMs.



... and this would gain the OP exactly what benefit?

Both the 5 and 5S "SIM free" models were the same as the unlocked T-Mobile or AT&T models and had no additional bands. See https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ and look at A1428 and A1533 which are the 5 and 5S SIM-free.

If you have any evidence to suggest they'll do something different, do please present the citation.

All the phones except Sprint ones are unlocked when bought from Apple for full price.
 
YES. They are factory unlocked.
The TMo and Verizon phone at full price are unlocked. Using both versions because that is all they had in stock.

As for the folks who are waiting for the "real factory unlocked", I thank you. Inventory is tight (esp for 6+) so anything you do that allows me to get my phone faster is appreciated.
 
If you can wait till the last week of November; you can get the real "Factory Unlocked" models that Apple releases at that time!

Why would you let someone wait till end of November to buy an unlocked iphone? When in fact, Apple sold the unlocked iphone since Day 1.
 
Why would you let someone wait till end of November to buy an unlocked iphone? When in fact, Apple sold the unlocked iphone since Day 1.
Apparently there are some individuals who either feel that buying a SIM-free version is somehow "better" without detailing what makes it so, or others who have a fear that a carrier might someday relock a phone despite no evidence of such a thing ever occurring.
 
Say I currently have AT&T and would like to pay full price for my phone so I can switch to T-Mobile in the next few months. If I try to buy a T-Mobile phone on Apple's site or for in-store pickup, it wants my T-Mobile account info or for me to open a new T-Mobile account.

Can't I just buy a T-Mobile phone outright? How are people buying T-Mobile phones and using them with other carriers?
 
Can't I just buy a T-Mobile phone outright? How are people buying T-Mobile phones and using them with other carriers?
You should be able to. I've bought a couple T-mobile phones outright and never was asked for any T-Mobile account info.

You ARE shopping at store.apple.com and not t-mobile.com, right? I know you said Apple's site but that's the only thing I can think of for why you're seeing something different.

Can you post screen shots of what you're seeing and how you got there?

Not that I disbelieve you, but to figure out how to direct you to get what you want. I just mocked an order and it didn't ask for any T-Mobile details.
 
if one buys a t mobile iphone 6 on a payment plan with t mobile, is that phone not unlocked?

is buying a t mobile at full price, 700 dollars or so, the only way to get it unlocked?
 
AFAIK any phone (other than Verizon) on a carrier payment plan will be locked regardless of where you bought it.

T-Mobile (and AT&T I believe) phones bought for full-price from Apple will be unlocked; if bought from the carrier they will arrive locked but can be unlocked after a period of time.

You could perhaps buy a full-price T-Mobile phone using alternative non-carrier financing such as the Barclay card and it'd be unlocked.

Also you could buy a locked phone and pay an unlock service to get it unlocked; there are threads recommending services. May be cheaper just to finance a full price phone depending on the interest rates available to you.
 
You should be able to. I've bought a couple T-mobile phones outright and never was asked for any T-Mobile account info.

You ARE shopping at store.apple.com and not t-mobile.com, right? I know you said Apple's site but that's the only thing I can think of for why you're seeing something different.

Can you post screen shots of what you're seeing and how you got there?

Not that I disbelieve you, but to figure out how to direct you to get what you want. I just mocked an order and it didn't ask for any T-Mobile details.
I was on Apple. You're right, though. I have no idea how I got to the "Provide your T-Mobile account info" screen before. It's certainly not doing it now. I can select a store for pickup and get all the way to checkout. Thanks for the suggestion and for pointing out I was doing something wrong.
 
I have no idea how I got to the "Provide your T-Mobile account info" screen before. It's certainly not doing it now. I can select a store for pickup and get all the way to checkout. Thanks for the suggestion and for pointing out I was doing something wrong.
I think you were doing things just fine, but the website had a hiccup and somehow displayed unreleased content.

As far as I know, there's never been any way to buy a T-Mobile iphone from Apple OTHER than paying full price. Thus no reason for Apple to ask about your T-Mobile account info. And more importantly, nothing you could have done wrong... :)

Maybe they're preparing to allow existing T-Mobile customers to buy via JUMP carrier financing? That'd be a nice win for T-Mobile customers.
 
I think you were doing things just fine, but the website had a hiccup and somehow displayed unreleased content.

As far as I know, there's never been any way to buy a T-Mobile iphone from Apple OTHER than paying full price. Thus no reason for Apple to ask about your T-Mobile account info. And more importantly, nothing you could have done wrong... :)

Maybe they're preparing to allow existing T-Mobile customers to buy via JUMP carrier financing? That'd be a nice win for T-Mobile customers.

If only I could do the same to get a Verizon phone instead, which are both unlocked and in stock, unlike the white 128GB T-Mobile I'm looking at. ;)
 
Hasn't the iPhone been a 'world phone' since the release of the 5? I believe the T-Mobile phones are unlocked, and there is no difference between an unlocked or T-Mobile phone. I bought my 5S with a T-Mobile sim inside, that phone was locked to T-Mobile. I'm not sure if the 6's come with a Sim inserted inside.
 
Just landed one at my local Apple Store. Saw it pop up on istocknow and jumped right on it.

I have an existing order through AT&T (I ordered the phone through work, I cannot purchase at local store) but I wanted something now :D. So I'll slap my 5s sim card into this guy and enjoy it for a few weeks.

This should hold me over until my AT&T one ships, then I'll return it.
 
Hasn't the iPhone been a 'world phone' since the release of the 5?

Yes, but for some reason there are differences in which models support which bands. The AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and SIM-free 5 & 5S versions are all the same phone with Sprint models being a little more "worldly" in that they included a couple extra bands. Downside is the inability to use Sprint phones on other US carriers.

See https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/

I bought my 5S with a T-Mobile sim inside, that phone was locked to T-Mobile. I'm not sure if the 6's come with a Sim inserted inside.
Did you buy the 5S at full price from Apple? Or did you buy it from T-Mobile?

FWIW, my iphone6 purchased from Apple as a full-price T-Mobile arrived fully unlocked and is working great on AT&T. I replaced the T-Mobile SIM in the phone with the AT&T SIM from my 5S and everything's working great.
 
Yes, but for some reason there are differences in which models support which bands. The AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and SIM-free 5 & 5S versions are all the same phone with Sprint models being a little more "worldly" in that they included a couple extra bands. Downside is the inability to use Sprint phones on other US carriers.

See https://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/


Did you buy the 5S at full price from Apple? Or did you buy it from T-Mobile?

FWIW, my iphone6 purchased from Apple as a full-price T-Mobile arrived fully unlocked and is working great on AT&T. I opened the box, removed the T-Mobile SIM, put the SIM from my 5S inside the 6, then turned it on.


I bought the 5S full price from Apple and it had a T-Mobile Sim inserted.I had to call T-Mobile and unlock the phone.

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Just landed one at my local Apple Store. Saw it pop up on istocknow and jumped right on it.

I have an existing order through AT&T (I ordered the phone through work, I cannot purchase at local store) but I wanted something now :D. So I'll slap my 5s sim card into this guy and enjoy it for a few weeks.

This should hold me over until my AT&T one ships, then I'll return it.

You have a 14 day return period. :)
 
I bought the 5S full price from Apple and it had a T-Mobile Sim inserted.I had to call T-Mobile and unlock the phone.

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You have a 14 day return period. :)

True, 14 days, so a couple of weeks rather than a few, haha :D
 
Purchased both a Verizon and T-Mobile iphone6 from Apple and both phones work on AT&T out of the box. Thanks all!
 
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