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hello12

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 25, 2012
146
75
T-mobile switched on their LTE today (I am in one of the cities that went live today) and I am not sure what settings I should have my iphone 5 on to get their new LTE signal, does anyone know?
 
T-mobile switched on their LTE today (I am in one of the cities that went live today) and I am not sure what settings I should have my iphone 5 on to get their new LTE signal, does anyone know?

Apple needs to update the firmware on the phone to support LTE on a new carrier. I'm sure there will be one forthcoming, eventually.

I really hope they don't try to limit LTE to phones actually purchased through Tmobile. That would suck!
 
Apple needs to update the firmware on the phone to support LTE on a new carrier. I'm sure there will be one forthcoming, eventually.

I really hope they don't try to limit LTE to phones actually purchased through Tmobile. That would suck!

Great. That means I have to say goodbye to my Jailbreak, right?... I don't care if I lose my jailbreak, but will I be able to keep all of my photos, contacts, and non-cydia apps?
 
I activated LTE in my country before it went approved by apple with commcenter patch (tweak that lets you indtall unapproved carrier files) and an att modifyed carrier file it worked but it was erratic sometimes the phone would not go back to LTE after a call or it would not switch it on regularly after exiting an LTE zone... After a few weeks apple released thr official carrier file for LTE in my country and ive never experienced issues any more (restored to stock and rbed without the LTE hack, using original file now) Youll be better waiting for the official update, which will probably activate mms
 
Great. That means I have to say goodbye to my Jailbreak, right?... I don't care if I lose my jailbreak, but will I be able to keep all of my photos, contacts, and non-cydia apps?

Just back up your phone before you restore it and you should be fine and not lose any data.

You should have your photos and contacts backed up to a computer anyway! Having them just on your phone is tempting fate.
 
I really hope they don't try to limit LTE to phones actually purchased through Tmobile. That would suck!

Apple isn't doing any such restriction; in NZ (and presumably other countries) you can buy an iPhone from anywhere and use it on Vodafone LTE.

As for T-Mobile, its site says "You can bringyour own phone or tablet to any of our plans" (my emphasis) so you probably don't have anything to worry about there either (other than T-Mobile being able to run a spell checker, anyway!)
 
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I really hope they don't try to limit LTE to phones actually purchased through Tmobile. That would suck!

You gotta buy a whole new iPhone 5... Existing iPhone 5 handsets cannot have AWS support enabled, but Apple is shipping the new A1428 carrier-unlocked on April 12th

Because they claim they can't upgrade the baseband via software to support AWS.

Starting April 12th, Apple retail shops as well as Apple's online store will begin selling the new and gently tweaked A1428 model of the iPhone 5. For those paying attention, that's the same model number as AT&T sells today, but Apple's enabling support of the AWS bands from the factory on the new guy -- and sadly, Apple affirmed to us that it's not something that can be enabled via a simple software update for A1428 iPhone units already in circulation. To say that another way, existing iPhone 5 owners on AT&T cannot simply apply a software patch to have AWS support added. You'll need to buy a new phone next month.
 
Hmm... I wonder then, if I should wait until after April 12th to bring my iPhone in for service (sticky home button). Might be worth the wait if it means that my carrier-unlocked iPhone 5 would gain T-Mobile LTE support through the exchange process.

Apple will give you exactly what you purchased. You'll most likely get a refurbished iphone 5 if its not within 30 days of your date of purchase.
 
If I bought my iphone 5 over 30 days ago, and want to replace it for the new aws one, what should I do? I don't have AppleCare+, but the phone is in perfect condition. I bought it unlocked btw
 
If I bought my iphone 5 over 30 days ago, and want to replace it for the new aws one, what should I do? I don't have AppleCare+, but the phone is in perfect condition. I bought it unlocked btw

You are out of luck. If you brought in your phone for exchange for some warranty issue, you wouldn't get the new aws one either. You'd get a brown boxed iPhone for warranty replacements etc.
 
You are out of luck. If you brought in your phone for exchange for some warranty issue, you wouldn't get the new aws one either. You'd get a brown boxed iPhone for warranty replacements etc.

So you are saying I am completely screwed?
 
Apple will give you exactly what you purchased.

Right, an A1428 iPhone 5... which by the way, is being manufactured such now that post April 12, BOTH the AT&T and the T-Mobile models will have the modification in place to permit T-Mobile LTE bands.

So is Apple REALLY going to have two sets of refurbs for two sets of A1428 iPhone 5 models, and yet be too lazy to increment a new model number? Seems a little odd. Guess I'll found out mid-April. ;)
 
Can't you just sell it and buy the new one?

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How would you be screwed?

I have thought about selling it, but I have never sold anything before, and don't know how to. And I would be losing a lot of money, I assume. If anyone wants a gsm unlocked iphone 5 for $650 though, message me :)
 
I have thought about selling it, but I have never sold anything before, and don't know how to. And I would be losing a lot of money, I assume. If anyone wants a gsm unlocked iphone 5 for $650 though, message me :)

You never sold anything in your life before?:rolleyes:
You don't ask $650, that's how much it is brand new not for your used one.
Try 450-500
 
Apple will give you exactly what you purchased. You'll most likely get a refurbished iphone 5 if its not within 30 days of your date of purchase.

Normally that's the case, but this is a minor tweak and since the tweaked version has the exact same model number -- I'm not sure Apple will keep track of the new vs. old versions. We'll see I guess.
 
This whole situation is gonna cost me around 200

Probably, but you knew before that the iphone you got is not fully supported by Tmobile and you were not expecting to get LTE with it on Tmobile.
Its up to you to decide if you want that added feature for that price or not.
And also check to see if LTE is even available where you live.
 
My question is how to get my iphone 5 to use their LTE? The LTE towers were turned on yesterday.. I know I wont get t-mobiles AWS, but do I have to wait for apple to come out with an update to be able to use the T-mobile LTE?
 
My question is how to get my iphone 5 to use their LTE? The LTE towers were turned on yesterday.. I know I wont get t-mobiles AWS, but do I have to wait for apple to come out with an update to be able to use the T-mobile LTE?

The "new" a1428 just enables AWS 3G. All a1428 models support T-Mobile LTE. If you don't want to wait for 4/12 you need to have the phone jailbroken with the comm center hack. The hack allows you to install modified carrier files.

Then you need to modify the T-Mobile carrier file or find a modified one and install it.
 
My question is how to get my iphone 5 to use their LTE? The LTE towers were turned on yesterday.. I know I wont get t-mobiles AWS, but do I have to wait for apple to come out with an update to be able to use the T-mobile LTE?

I would hold off another few weeks for a carrier update from tmobile that will enable their LTE bands to be utilized.
Hacks like that are not stable and by many users reported cause erratic behavior with signal, bad and lost connections, sending calls straight to voicemail etc...
 
I have thought about selling it, but I have never sold anything before, and don't know how to. And I would be losing a lot of money, I assume. If anyone wants a gsm unlocked iphone 5 for $650 though, message me :)

Have you ever bought anything before? You can just go purchase a new phone.
 
As a current T-mobile customer on contract, how do I go about getting the new model in April? Can I go into the store and buy it full price?
 
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