iPhone 6s Now Available SIM-Free in Apple Online Store

[manu chao]

Dictionaries should be descriptive, not proscriptive.

Dictionaries have always been descriptive as well as prescriptive in as people consult them and nowadays spellcheckers use them as well. Not every spelling variation makes it as an option into dictionaries (or should make it). Only if it used ALOT (which I don't think applies yet to 'proscriptive').

And some general rules (eg, in regard to capitalisation, like restricting the use of all-caps words to abbreviations) are very effective in keeping spelling from developing to many variations.

 

[danysl]

It is not locked if you paid full price and got it from Apple.

One always ends up paying full price.

 

[dampfnudel]

Didn't know SIM-free iphones were a new thing in the states now...

Coming from Canada I find that interesting.

However our phone plans suck; we pay $80 for 2GB.

Yeah, slowly people here are waking up...to some things.

 

[John.B]

If I really don't have any intention to go to AT&T, but having a "band 30" is something I am interested in, would Apple possibly let me make the switch since I have a T-Mobile one and my phone is two days out of the return window for 14 days?

In your situation, I would - if - I could find the SIM free model I was looking for. I know my local Apple store has had the 6s Plus mostly in either rose gold or 16 GB models (neither of which I have any interest in buying).

 

[lolkthxbai]

I picked up one in San Diego at 5pm on Friday 9th Oct. It was the '34 model. I asked to pay on the new installment plan, which they initially refused. But a check revealed that Apple had just emailed the stores with a policy change - they sold it to me with an ATT Sim, not installed, on the installment plan.

There was no policy change. Whoever helped you did it wrong so count yourself lucky I guess.

 

[chestvrg]

I bought a sim-free 6s in NYC yesterday. Put in the sim from my Verizon 5c, registered the new phone's IMEI with Verizon, and was up and running in 5 minutes.

And I can confirm that the 6s model is A1633.

Hey guys I got on 10-08-2015 the Tmobile unlocked version 6S 64GB, model A1688 now that the new SIM free version was announced which has band 30 for att, now I want to exchange it, can you confirm it should be the A1633?? Can you confirm?

I went to the Apple Store at Dadeland Mall (Miami), but they only had 128GB SIM free, I search the other three Apples stores in the areas: Aventura, Miami Beach & The Falls and neither they didn't have them either, the closest Apple Store that has it available is in Tampa.

I'm still whitin the two weeks return/exchange period. The genius girl told me to keep checking online to put a reservation for one and until now I still don't see any in stock.

 

[doxielover]

Hey guys I got on 10-08-2015 the Tmobile unlocked version 6S 64GB, model A1688 now that the new SIM free version was announced which has band 30 for att, now I want to exchange it, can you confirm it should be the A1633?? Can you confirm?

I went to the Apple Store at Dadeland Mall (Miami), but they only had 128GB SIM free, I search the other three Apples stores in the areas: Aventura, Miami Beach & The Falls and neither they didn't have them either, the closest Apple Store that has it available is in Tampa.

I'm still whitin the two weeks return/exchange period. The genius girl told me to keep checking online to put a reservation for one and until now I still don't see any in stock.

Why didn't you buy the 128gb? What color and size are you looking for?

 

[chestvrg]

Why didn't you buy the 128gb? What color and size are you looking for?

Because I didn't want to bother my brother on spending the additional $100.00 (I have to pay back his CC), my budget size is the 64GB. Update. I waited to be 8am for the Apple's reservation site to open and now although all local Miami stores do not have it, I found one in Boca Raton (about 51 miles away, I made a reservation for 1:30PM on the 64GB space gray SIM free model. I'll keep you all posted.

 

[Hordak]

I've read every post in this thread and I'm not exactly sure I've found a solution to my situation.

I have an iPhone 5S on contract with Sprint until 11/15/15. If I were to buy a Sim free 6S Plus, could I put it on Sprint, then switch to AT&T or Verizon once my contract is up or would that essentially lock me in to Sprint's carrier settings again? The problem is, I will want to sell my 5S when my contract is up, or as soon as possible, to offset some cost, and I will eventually want to sell the 6S Plus down the road when I'm ready to upgrade again. Would putting it on Sprint's network screw me over when it comes time to sell the phone as Sim-Free, Unlocked later down the road, or will it forever be tied to whether or not Sprint decides to unlock it? I want to at least TRY Verizon or AT&T to see if I have better luck with their service. Sorry if my post is a confusing mess. I really just want to see if it's better to stay on my unlimited plan with Sprint or if the coverage out there is better and more useful to me. After all, what good is unlimited everything if the service is terrible?

 

[KPOM]

I've read every post in this thread and I'm not exactly sure I've found a solution to my situation.

I have an iPhone 5S on contract with Sprint until 11/15/15. If I were to buy a Sim free 6S Plus, could I put it on Sprint, then switch to AT&T or Verizon once my contract is up or would that essentially lock me in to Sprint's carrier settings again? The problem is, I will want to sell my 5S when my contract is up, or as soon as possible, to offset some cost, and I will eventually want to sell the 6S Plus down the road when I'm ready to upgrade again. Would putting it on Sprint's network screw me over when it comes time to sell the phone as Sim-Free, Unlocked later down the road, or will it forever be tied to whether or not Sprint decides to unlock it?

You will need to get a new SIM card from Sprint (as I believe the one Sprint used in the 5S is not compatible with the 6 or 6S), but the phone will remain unlocked. Inserting a SIM card doesn't lock the phone. The SIM-free model is forever unlocked and you can take it to AT&T or Verizon later. The carrier settings will update automatically when you insert an AT&T or Verizon SIM card.

 

[chestvrg]

Update: I got here at the Boca Raton Apple Store and they had my unlocked/SIM free model A1634 ready. The genius lady was very nice to me in making the exchange. Indeed it is the model A1633. Oh and also brings the SIM tool in the box.

 

[jannette]

This is interesting. Here in the UK I have been buying sim free iPhones direct from Apple for years. I am on a 30 day contract with O2 which means I can change provider quickly if I spot a better deal. Resale price for sim free iPhones is higher than ones tied to a provider. I had no idea it did not work this way worldwide ...you live and learn!

 

[chestvrg]

This is interesting. Here in the UK I have been buying sim free iPhones direct from Apple for years. I am on a 30 day contract with O2 which means I can change provider quickly if I spot a better deal. Resale price for sim free iPhones is higher than ones tied to a provider. I had no idea it did not work this way worldwide ...you live and learn!

Yes Jan I know here in the states it has been so different until in recent years. The four major carriers (At&t, Verizon, Sprint) and with the exception of Tmobile have traditionally enrolled customers on 2-year contracts and after two years we got to keep the phone, but there was no federal law that forced the carriers to unlock them inched paid off either in full or by contract fulfillment.

Backtrack two years ago and Tmobile started making so many big changes, that apparently is forcing other carriers to follow in example, the government now also got involved about the unlocking of devices, At&t as a result now has to unlock paid in full iPhones or by contract fulfillment.

Now about some years back I was aware of the purchased of iPhones as "device only" which if bought in full were unlocked. But recently Apple offer them in stores just like overseas.

Another big thing is that carriers have the perception of 2-yr contracts as if they were giving us the phones for free or a huge reduced discount, much of a fallacy because in reality buying an unlocked phone and getting a low cost prepaid service is always cheaper. And we here see a purchase of an $800 device not like a necessary expense but falling under a "want" instead of a "need" which is what carriers want us to believe all along.

Now a lot of people are pending their eyes and the word "unlocked" is more often spoken.

 

[jannette]

Yes Jan I know here in the states it has been so different until in recent years. The four major carriers (At&t, Verizon, Sprint) and with the exception of Tmobile have traditionally enrolled customers on 2-year contracts and after two years we got to keep the phone, but there was no federal law that forced the carriers to unlock them inched paid off either in full or by contract fulfillment.

Backtrack two years ago and Tmobile started making so many big changes, that apparently is forcing other carriers to follow in example, the government now also got involved about the unlocking of devices, At&t as a result now has to unlock paid in full iPhones or by contract fulfillment.

Now about some years back I was aware of the purchased of iPhones as "device only" which if bought in full were unlocked. But recently Apple offer them in stores just like overseas.

Another big thing is that carriers have the perception of 2-yr contracts as if they were giving us the phones for free or a huge reduced discount, much of a fallacy because in reality buying an unlocked phone and getting a low cost prepaid service is always cheaper. And we here see a purchase of an $800 device not like a necessary expense but falling under a "want" instead of a "need" which is what carriers want us to believe all along.

Now a lot of people are pending their eyes and the word "unlocked" is more often spoken.

Thanks for clarifying this...so if you buy a phone sim free from Apple, can you get a short 30 day contract from one of your carriers in the US?

 

[chestvrg]

Yes absolutely. Actually there are a lot of sub contracted carriers called MVNO I believed that use the four major carriers cellphone towers and lease then. When using one of these prepaid MVNOs the service quality is prioritized first to the host carrier, then to the MVNO. There are prepaid MVNO that cost as low as $35/mo with 500MB of data others are like $45/mo with 2GB allotment.

Or you can do what the major carriers call "post paid", bring your own phone and just pay the monthly fee.

 

[ScottC7]

If you buy a sim-free phone(at full retail), you should be able to pop any sim in there and it should not affect your current contract. However just remember that carriers normally reserve the right to screw with their agreement with you.

Based on this response, I am assuming this would be true even if one were still on a 2-year contract? To explain further, I have a little more time left until my 2-year AT&T contract ends for my iPhone 5S (expires this December). I am assuming I could buy a SIM-free iPhone 6S Plus now (on the iUP), pop in the SIM from my 5S, power up the 6S Plus, and have an unlocked 6S Plus that works on my current AT&T contract. And once my contract does end, in December, I would be free to switch providers as I saw fit, since the iPhone 6S is unlocked (no need to ask AT&T to unlock it). Am I right?

 

[duaneu]

Based on this response, I am assuming this would be true even if one were still on a 2-year contract? To explain further, I have a little more time left until my 2-year AT&T contract ends for my iPhone 5S (expires this December). I am assuming I could buy a SIM-free iPhone 6S Plus now (on the iUP), pop in the SIM from my 5S, power up the 6S Plus, and have an unlocked 6S Plus that works on my current AT&T contract. And once my contract does end, in December, I would be free to switch providers as I saw fit, since the iPhone 6S is unlocked (no need to ask AT&T to unlock it). Am I right?

That's correct. You can also ask AT&T to unlock the 5s at that time.

 

[doxielover]

Did most of y'all get apple care? This will be the first time buying it for me even after owning other iPhones. I hope it's worth it.

 

[ScottC7]

That's correct. You can also ask AT&T to unlock the 5s at that time.

Thanks for the response. It's been unclear to me whether I would be allowed to purchase a SIM-free iPhone on the iPhone Upgrade Program; reading posts here, opinions seem to vary.

 

[duaneu]

Thanks for the response. It's been unclear to me whether I would be allowed to purchase a SIM-free iPhone on the iPhone Upgrade Program; reading posts here, opinions seem to vary.

Oh, didn't notice you wanted to use AUP. There's been a lot of confusion over whether that's allowed. Some people have reported success at being able to do it, but the official policy seems to be that SIM free is not eligible.

 

[ScottC7]

Oh, didn't notice you wanted to use AUP. There's been a lot of confusion over whether that's allowed. Some people have reported success at being able to do it, but the official policy seems to be that SIM free is not eligible.

Yes, that's what I'm seeing, too. Thanks for the extra thoughts.

I'd like to use the Apple Upgrade Program. So I suppose it's not much different getting the AT&T model, running out the rest of my contract, and at that point, I suppose I'm pretty much in the same place I'd be if I had purchased a SIM-free phone.