Carrier If I buy a T-mobile iphone 5s, can I use it on a Verizon carrier?

[arctyler]

I'm looking at a new in box T-mobile iPhone 5s 64gb, and I was considering buying it, he says he bought it straight from apple, and is T-mobile based so it works with most carriers, will that work with my Verizon plan, if I was to buy that iphone 5s?

 

[Nlynn527]

I'm looking at a new in box T-mobile iPhone 5s 64gb, and I was considering buying it, he says he bought it straight from apple, and is T-mobile based so it works with most carriers, will that work with my Verizon plan, if I was to buy that iphone 5s?

I don't think it will.

 

[Oui]

No, it will not work with Verizon or Sprint

 

[PsstGreek]

It's only the other way around, except for Sprint.

 

[rockitdog]

Only a Verizon iPhone will work on TMO, a TMO iPhone won't work on Verizon.

 

[2298754]

No. Buy a VZW iPhone 5S and you can use it on VZW, AT&T, TMo, and overseas.

 

[JOSE891]

I'm looking at a new in box T-mobile iPhone 5s 64gb, and I was considering buying it, he says he bought it straight from apple, and is T-mobile based so it works with most carriers, will that work with my Verizon plan, if I was to buy that iphone 5s?

All the 5S Radio Chips are the same, but Apple blocks the CDMA portion required to use on Sprint/Verizon to work.

I tried a Verizon 5 sim on a 5s and it works but it says no service

 

[solo118]

No. Buy a VZW iPhone 5S and you can use it on VZW, AT&T, TMo, and overseas.

This is the best advise.

You can't use a Tmobile or ATT 5S on Verizon even though it has the band built in. However you can use a VZW phone for any service with all LTE bands working.

Believe it or not if OP is willing to buy 2nd hand the VZW iphones are a bit cheaper 🙂

 

[old-wiz]

For whatever reasons, Verizon will not allow any phone/tablet on their network that they did not sell. they say this is necessary to protect the network. (seriously?)

 

[ET iPhone Home]

I'm looking at a new in box T-mobile iPhone 5s 64gb, and I was considering buying it, he says he bought it straight from apple, and is T-mobile based so it works with most carriers, will that work with my Verizon plan, if I was to buy that iphone 5s?

There was a huge discussion on this here. Here's the link. Hopefully, it will answer your question.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1637205/

It seems that your T-Mobile 5S will work on Verizon, but it will only work on Verizon LTE only (NOT on 3G and 4G), unlock required which requires 40 days of service with T-Mobile before they will unlock your 5S.

 

[Richdmoore]

There was a huge discussion on this here. Here's the link. Hopefully, it will answer your question.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1637205/

It seems that your T-Mobile 5S will work on Verizon, but it will only work on Verizon LTE only (NOT on 3G and 4G), unlock required which requires 40 days of service with T-Mobile before they will unlock your 5S.

Of course, LTE is data only (at least until VoLTE is deployed) so when a call is placed it falls back to 3g or lower 1x for the voice service. If the phone won't work on those bands, it can't make/receive phone calls!

 

[Col Ronson]

All the 5S Radio Chips are the same, but Apple blocks the CDMA portion required to use on Sprint/Verizon to work.

I tried a Verizon 5 sim on a 5s and it works but it says no service

Apple doesn't block jack. Verizon won't activate any device that isn't labeled as a VZW device on their network. They're anal about that kinda crap. They have a list of IMEIs of iPhones that are all sold as Verizon iPhones.

You can get a LTE nano sim from an already activated VZW iPhone and use that for LTE data only, but you won't get voice or 3G services.

 

[ET iPhone Home]

Of course, LTE is data only (at least until VoLTE is deployed) so when a call is placed it falls back to 3g or lower 1x for the voice service. If the phone won't work on those bands, it can't make/receive phone calls!

According the that chart, if OP signs up with Verizon on his T-Mobile 5S, he will still be restricted from using 3G/4G.