Over the holidays, I am visiting my brother in Dubai. They currently don't sell the iPhone 4S there and for the most part, everything is pre-paid. I was wondering if I could buy any iPhone 4S on ebay (Att, Sprint, Verizon) and have it work in Dubai or if I would have to buy an unlocked one directly through Apple which is much more expensive. Thanks!
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iPhone 4S Internationally
- Thread starter lehman310
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If you buy a carrier version you will need your carrier to unlock it for you. AT&T doesn't unlock iPhones. If you buy the unlocked version directly from Apple it will work fine but you will only be able to use it on AT&T in the US (and T-Mobile as well if you don't care about not having 3G data connectivity).
You will have to contact Sprint to unlock the GSM part for international roaming purpose.
Sprint iPhone 4S from launch day is supposed to be SIM unlocked. See if you can borrow someone's AT&T sim card to test it out.
I think the unlocked 4S is hitting Brazil, Saudi, and Phillipiines on Dec. 16...maybe that helps?
Are you wanting to use it? Or use it with a sim card you buy locally in Dubai and avoid paying Sprint's long distance rates?
It would be a primary phone used exclusively in Dubai. My brother lives there so he wants to use the iPhone 4S with a local sim. They sell the iPhone 4 to use on the carriers but since everything is prepaid, the device prices are outrageous.
Sprint changed unlocking policy
I was told during a chat with an International Customer Service Team Representative on Saturday that the policy changed on Friday, December 9, 2011.
The only Sprint customers that will now have their request to have their iPhone 4S's unlocked for use on GSM networks overseas are those that are business customers. Personal customers will NOT have their phones unlocked no matter how long they have been in good standing.
The agent told me this was Apple's policy, not theirs. However, as far as I know, Apple has never meddled in the locking/unlocking policies of other carriers & I don't know why they would care or start now.
I was told during a chat with an International Customer Service Team Representative on Saturday that the policy changed on Friday, December 9, 2011.
The only Sprint customers that will now have their request to have their iPhone 4S's unlocked for use on GSM networks overseas are those that are business customers. Personal customers will NOT have their phones unlocked no matter how long they have been in good standing.
The agent told me this was Apple's policy, not theirs. However, as far as I know, Apple has never meddled in the locking/unlocking policies of other carriers & I don't know why they would care or start now.
Rule #1 Don't believe the Chat Agents, they always seem to be full of disinformation.
Call Sprint, hopefully you get an in-the-know CSR.
Alright, one more question. I was wondering if anyone has had experience with using a data only sim such as: This Carrier in The UAE I dont need to make calls (This being on my Sprint 4s which is unlocked), I would simply like to use the data to look up various information while I'm around town. I am wondering if this is possible. And how iMessages would work over data with my American Phone number being listed under the caller ID or if that changes when overseas.