iPhone SE (2016) iPhone SE clearance sale

[Jerhen]

Have a question on the iPhone SE clearance sale. My current carrier is US Cellular. Will any of these phones work on my carrier if I would purchase one? I went on US Cellulars website and under bring your own device and this is what it said about the SE.

I know the model numbers match up but on apples clearance site they have certain carriers listed. Anyone know?

 

[44267547]

Have a question on the iPhone SE clearance sale. My current carrier is US Cellular. Will any of these phones work on my carrier if I would purchase one? I went on US Cellulars website and under bring your own device and this is what it said about the SE.

I know the model numbers match up but on apples clearance site they have certain carriers listed. Anyone know?View attachment 822997

I can attest that if you purchase a Verizon unlocked iPhone SE (Which is currently available) from Apple’s clearance section, it will operate normally on US Cellular’s network.

 

[Jerhen]

Has anyone bought a T Mobile version?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Has anyone bought a T Mobile version?

All of the phones are unlocked. If U.S. cellular uses T-Mobile, the T-Mobile phone will work, as will any other phone on sale. I answered your question in the clearance thread and you replied. No need for a new thread.

 

[s54]

I bought the T-Mobile 128 GB version from Apple’s clearance section. Received it two days ago.

Phone is 100% unlocked and tested. I popped in my other foreign SIM card from AIS Mobile (a Thai carrier) and it works without a problem.

The only reason why they mention that the phone is “T-Mobile” is because it comes with a T-Mobile SIM card already installed.

Back in the day, it was different. On older generation iPhones, carrier branding meant that the phones themselves were physically carrier-branded with their logos.

Today it’s not like that. There is nothing “T-Mobile” about the T-Mobile iPhone SE. Only the SIM card, which is removable. If you pop in another GSM SIM card, that carrier will update and overwrite carrier settings on the phone automatically, since the phone is unlocked.

After that, there will literally be no trace of “T-Mobile” anywhere on the software or hardware. The box doesn’t reflect this either, which means that if you remove the T-Mobile SIM card, you can offload your phone as just an unlocked one without ever having to mention that it’s “T-Mobile”. That’s irrelevant.

 

[Jerhen]

I bought the T-Mobile 128 GB version from Apple’s clearance section. Received it two days ago.

Phone is 100% unlocked and tested. I popped in my other foreign SIM card from AIS Mobile (a Thai carrier) and it works without a problem.

The only reason why they mention that the phone is “T-Mobile” is because it comes with a T-Mobile SIM card already installed.

Back in the day, it was different. On older generation iPhones, carrier branding meant that the phones themselves were physically carrier-branded with their logos.

Today it’s not like that. There is nothing “T-Mobile” about the T-Mobile iPhone SE. Only the SIM card, which is removable. If you pop in another GSM SIM card, that carrier will update and overwrite carrier settings on the phone automatically, since the phone is unlocked.

After that, there will literally be no trace of “T-Mobile” anywhere on the software or hardware. The box doesn’t reflect this either, which means that if you remove the T-Mobile SIM card, you can offload your phone as just an unlocked one without ever having to mention that it’s “T-Mobile”. That’s irrelevant.

Thanks for your reply and going into detail. Your post was very helpful!

 

[s54]

Thanks for your reply and going into detail. Your post was very helpful!

Also, some people may be under the impression that if you get the "T-Mobile" iPhone SE, you won't be able to use it on a CDMA network with Verizon. That's also false. This SE is A1662 and fully unlocked, which means it's the same identical iPhone SE that is sold as "Verizon".

Any unlocked A1662 SE is equivalent to Apple selling it as "Sim-Free" after you remove the SIM card.

 

[ghanwani]

Not that it matters all that much, but do these phones come with a sim removal tool?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Not that it matters all that much, but do these phones come with a sim removal tool?

Mine did not come with one.

 

[Manzana]

I believe they stopped including sim removal tool with iPhone 6s and I believe the SE came out in the same year.
Pity, because it’s a cool tool and liquidmetal used to be all the rage.

 

[C DM]

I believe they stopped including sim removal tool with iPhone 6s and I believe the SE came out in the same year.
Pity, because it’s a cool tool and liquidmetal used to be all the rage.

Inclusion of the tool also varied depending on where the phone was purchased. A lot of the ones in US, for example, didn't include it, even before iPhone 6s.

 

[44267547]

I believe they stopped including sim removal tool with iPhone 6s and I believe the SE came out in the same year.

Two different years, The 6S was released in September 2015, the iPhone SE was released in March 2016, so they were approximately six-ish months apart. Also, the Sim tool is still included depending your country of origin as well, as others members mentioned they had a sim tool included with later model iPhones.

 

[LauraJean]

Not that it matters all that much, but do these phones come with a sim removal tool?

I picked up my SE 128GB silver T-mobile yesterday at an Apple store. I asked the rep "is the sim card removal tool in this box?", even though prior research indicated that the answer is likely "no". It worked. He thought for a moment and then got me one from the back. A freebie from Apple, LOL!

 

[ghanwani]

I think they were included with unlocked, sim-free phones. Carrier phones have the sim inside, so they didn't come with a sim removal tool. I know for sure I had it with my 5s. I can't remember if I got one with the SE. Both were unlocked, sim free versions.

 

[Jerhen]

I have a 5s and a 6s which included the sim removal tool? So they must of both been unlocked?

 

[Nermal]

Inclusion of the tool also varied depending on where the phone was purchased. A lot of the ones in US, for example, didn't include it, even before iPhone 6s.

Conversely my NZ-purchased iPhone 8 came with one. It seems that you're more likely to get one if you're outside the US.

 

[kevink2]

Also, some people may be under the impression that if you get the "T-Mobile" iPhone SE, you won't be able to use it on a CDMA network with Verizon. That's also false. This SE is A1662 and fully unlocked, which means it's the same identical iPhone SE that is sold as "Verizon".

Any unlocked A1662 SE is equivalent to Apple selling it as "Sim-Free" after you remove the SIM card.

Well, Apple contributes to this. Some models, like the 7/7+/8/8+/X came with different modem carriers so even if unlocked the ATT/TMobile versions weren't necessarily compatible with Verizon/Sprint. And before the 6, there were differences too. Even some of the intermediate models may miss an important band.

As posted here and other places, these clearance ones come with SIMs. So it makes it easier to signup for service on the corresponding carrier since you already have the SIM.

 

[s54]

Well, Apple contributes to this. Some models, like the 7/7+/8/8+/X came with different modem carriers so even if unlocked the ATT/TMobile versions weren't necessarily compatible with Verizon/Sprint. And before the 6, there were differences too. Even some of the intermediate models may miss an important band.

As posted here and other places, these clearance ones come with SIMs. So it makes it easier to signup for service on the corresponding carrier since you already have the SIM.

They were in fact necessarily compatible. I think you’re confusing model number with carriers roaming on different bands.

Since the iPhone SE onward, the model number dictates what carrier an iPhone is compatible with. The bands are predetermined for that model number.

If that same model number is unlocked, then it makes no difference how the phone is branded.

For example, the A1662 SE is compatible with Verizon, ATT, and T-Mobile. It contains all the bands used by each carrier. So, as long as the A1662 is unlocked, it doesn’t matter whether it’s sold as a Verizon model or ATT or TMobile. It means it’s in fact always compatible with all three networks.

There were also two other model numbers of the SE. One was for Sprint, which is considered to be the global version. The other one was specific to China. These two phones are not compatible with some US networks.

My point is there is no guess work here. Apple clearance SE’s are all A1662. Therefore, they are all compatible with the three US carriers I mentioned, regardless of who the carrier in the description is.