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kunal5988

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 20, 2013
9
0
New Delhi, India
Hi,
My friend is coming to India from US. I want to to know if the iphone 5s (T-mobile version) available on apple website for 649 $ will work with any carrier?

Is it factory unlocked ? Will it work without any activation from T-mobile ?

Please help...only then i'll ask my friend to get me one to india..


thanks
 
Any iPhone 5s other than the sprint one will be factory unlocked if you buy at full price.
 
Hi,
My friend is coming to India from US. I want to to know if the iphone 5s (T-mobile version) available on apple website for 649 $ will work with any carrier?

Is it factory unlocked ? Will it work without any activation from T-mobile ?

Please help...only then i'll ask my friend to get me one to india..


thanks

It's unlocked internationally, but would require 40 days of T-Mobile service before they unlock it domestically in the US for use with another carrier other than T-Mobile.

Supposedly, according to an Apple Rep at the Apple Store, they should be coming out with the "Official" factory unlocked by Thanksgiving. Can your friend wait till then?
 
It's unlocked internationally, but would require 40 days of T-Mobile service before they unlock it domestically in the US for use with another carrier other than T-Mobile.

Supposedly, according to an Apple Rep at the Apple Store, they should be coming out with the "Official" factory unlocked by Thanksgiving. Can your friend wait till then?

Not true. I have a T-Mobile 5s I've been using on AT&T since day one. It's fully unlocked out of the box if you buy it from Apple. It's only locked if you buy it from T-Mobile.
 
Yes it is. Any iPhone except the sprint one if bought DIRECT from Apple at FULL price will be unlocked.

When your friend goes to buy it from the Apple store don't ask the sales guy "is this phone unlocked since I plan on using it in India." They will flat out tell you it won't since Apple does not "officially" sell unlocked 5s at this time. This will cause more confusion for you and your friend.
 
I bought a Verizon iPhone 5s from the Apple store for full price. I replaced the Verizon SIM with a T-Mobile SIM and have been using it on T-Mobile. The Verizon iPhone 5s is unlocked.
 
thanks for all the replies...i now see two kinds of iphones available

T-mobile and sim free.

Sim free is unlocked but will be available after 2 weeks. T-mobile one is currently available on some stores. But on t-mobile iphone, there is a note under it saying that it needs to be activated by either visiting apple store or t-mobile store. Will it work with some other sim even if i dont get it activated ??
 
thanks for all the replies...i now see two kinds of iphones available

T-mobile and sim free.

Sim free is unlocked but will be available after 2 weeks. T-mobile one is currently available on some stores. But on t-mobile iphone, there is a note under it saying that it needs to be activated by either visiting apple store or t-mobile store. Will it work with some other sim even if i dont get it activated ??

Yep, you can buy it sealed, open it back in india, slap an Indian sim and use right after set up no problems. Goodluck!
 
Hi,
My friend is coming to India from US. I want to to know if the iphone 5s (T-mobile version) available on apple website for 649 $ will work with any carrier?

Is it factory unlocked ? Will it work without any activation from T-mobile ?

Please help...only then i'll ask my friend to get me one to india..


thanks

Why make a new thread? This thread will answers your question

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1640112/
 
Yea, but this thread confuses me. Some say its locked some say its unlocked :confused:

Don't make this harder than it is.

Buy a tmobile, AT&T, or verizon 5s ( do not buy Sprint model) AT FULL PRICE and directly from Apple store and it will be unlocked.

The sim free unlocked one is the same as above but only exception is it will not include any SIM card and there is a few weeks wait for it to ship as of today.
 
Buy it from T-Mobile could be locked. I have a T-Mobile 5s I've been using on AT&T since day one. It's fully unlocked out of the box if you buy it from Apple.:apple:
PkuSSH
 
Last edited:
Hi,
My friend is coming to India from US. I want to to know if the iphone 5s (T-mobile version) available on apple website for 649 $ will work with any carrier?

Is it factory unlocked ? Will it work without any activation from T-mobile ?

Please help...only then i'll ask my friend to get me one to india..


thanks

Yes, if you buy T-Mobile iPhone 5S from an apple store on full price, it is UNLOCKED 100%
 
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