Is the T-Mobile iPhone 6 unlocked for pre-order?

[BruiserB]

Is the T-Mobile iPhone 6 unlocked for pre-order?

Actually I would make the T-Mobile version your first choice as it's unlocked to all GSM networks out of the box, doesn't Verizon use CDMA? I had it confirmed by Apple technical support that the T-Mobile version will definitely work with all GSM networks in Europe so that's what I'm picking up when I'm over there.

The VERIZON phone has CDMA in addition to (not instead of) all of the GSM networks that the Tmo and ATT phones have. And the Verizon one is REQUIRED to be unlocked. T-mobile purchased "device only" will most likely be unlocked (if it follows the pattern of last year) as will the ATT one. However they are not REQUiRED to be unlocked so there is a tiny chance Apple could change something. But there is a zero chance the Verizon one will be locked. And since zero is less than tiny, that's why I recommended Verizon as first choice for someone leaving the country. You won't need the CDMA capability in Europe, but it also has all of the same GSM/LTE capabilities as the T-mobile & ATT ones.

http://www.apple.com/iphone-6/specs/

See the frequency specs in the middle of the page. The CDMA version has identical GSM/LTE capabilities as the GSM version.

I personally would bet that all 3 will be unlocked if bought "device only". But we won't know until Friday. If it's confirmed on Friday that Tmobile and ATT device only purchases are also unlocked, then a foreign visitor can feel comfortable with choosing any of the 3 (VZ, Tmobile, or ATT).

Also for now the advice is to absolutely, under no circumstances, buy a Sprint one. Although technically it has even more frequency options (with support for Chinese TDLTE too), Sprint has up to now been very strict about NEVER fully unlocking their phones. If by some miracle this is different on Friday, that phone may become an option....but for now I would not recommend anyone get a Sprint phone.

 

[Batem]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but if the verizon phones are unlocked, is it possible for anyone to buy one from 199 and use it with any other sim?
Why would anyone buy the much more expensive t-mobile one?

 

[dancedreamfly]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but if the verizon phones are unlocked, is it possible for anyone to buy one from 199 and use it with any other sim?
Why would anyone buy the much more expensive t-mobile one?

Because $199 is the subsidized contract price...

 

[Batem]

Because $199 is the subsidized contract price...

Ok, sorry i am not from the us, i dont know how it works with contracts over there. I heard a couple of years ago that you purchase the phone and it comes with a simcard and you make the contract by activating it.
In that case i thought you could just buy the 199 phone, take out the sim and put in any other card. Thats why i thought it has to be locked.

Doesnt matter anyway, i preordered two i phone 6 t-mobile....hopefully unlocked right out of the box

 

[dancedreamfly]

Ok, sorry i am not from the us, i dont know how it works with contracts over there. I heard a couple of years ago that you purchase the phone and it comes with a simcard and you make the contract by activating it.
In that case i thought you could just buy the 199 phone, take out the sim and put in any other card. Thats why i thought it has to be locked.

Doesnt matter anyway, i preordered two i phone 6 t-mobile....hopefully unlocked right out of the box

You can't even get the $199-priced phone without signing up for a contract, either as an upgrade or for a new line. But theoretically, if you know someone who's eligible for an upgrade on Verizon but doesn't want the phone, you can ask them to get the phone for $199 then pop in your own sim card since it's going to be unlocked. That won't be the case for on-contract AT&T and T-Mobile phones though, since those will be locked if you pay the subsidized price.

 

[BruiserB]

Is the T-Mobile iPhone 6 unlocked for pre-order?

Maybe this is a stupid question, but if the verizon phones are unlocked, is it possible for anyone to buy one from 199 and use it with any other sim?

Why would anyone buy the much more expensive t-mobile one?

It is possible to do that, but to get for $199 you need to sign a 2 year contract for Verizon service. But you can pay for service and use your phone with whatever SIM you choose. If you skip out of the contract and don't pay the ETF, they can put a ESN/IMEI block on the phone.

 

[Batem]

Thank you guys, that answers all my questions.i appreciate it.

 

[Surferdude44]

I said every VERIZON phone is required to be unlocked. It was the condition for them to get spectrum. This is the only carrier required to sell unlocked phones. Even their "on contract" phones are unlocked.

http://www.verizonwireless.com/aboutus/commitment/safety-security/device-unlocking-policy.html



The reason they don't lock LTE devices is not out of the goodness of their hearts, but because it was a condition the FCC imposed on them for obtaining their LTE spectrum. I stand by my original post 100%

Your last line says that ATT and tmobile phones come unlocked if you buy them device only. You stand by that 100% too? Try going to ATT and tell them you want to buy their unlocked version. They don't have an unlocked version. That's the whole point of this exhausting thread. Here you come, the last poster after four days and tell everyone that verizon, ATT and tmobile all sell unlocked phones. If one of these readers goes to ATT because you said the phones are unlocked, they are going to be very disappointed at you.

 

[BruiserB]

Is the T-Mobile iPhone 6 unlocked for pre-order?

Your last line says that ATT and tmobile phones come unlocked if you buy them device only. You stand by that 100% too? Try going to ATT and tell them you want to buy their unlocked version. They don't have an unlocked version. That's the whole point of this exhausting thread. Here you come, the last poster after four days and tell everyone that verizon, ATT and tmobile all sell unlocked phones. If one of these readers goes to ATT because you said the phones are unlocked, they are going to be very disappointed at you.

Dude, all of my comments pertain to buying "device only" at the Apple Store. And yes the ATT device only phone from the Apple Store was unlocked as well last year.

Right now I'm typing this on my ATT iPhone 5S that I bought the first week of introduction last year at the Apple store. It has NEVER been used on ATT. I have used it on Tmobile, and when on vacation last November I used it on Vodacom in South Africa. It was unlocked out of the box; I did nothing special to unlock it.

I agree with you that you shouldn't purchase at any carrier store. Only buy at the Apple Store. None of the carriers will sell you an unlocked phone no strings attached. Even Verizon will not let you buy their unlocked phone without activating it to a line. But the Apple Store will sell iPhones from all 3 carriers (VZ, TM, & ATT) "device only" no strings attached. Verizon will 100% be unlocked. If this year is like last year then T mobile and ATT will be as well. I'd say that's likely a 99% probability but wouldn't promise it 100% because the carriers could force Apple to change that policy.

And if you ask at the Apple Store they won't promise you anything about any of the phones being unlocked. The carriers don't want phones allocated to them to end up not activated on their service. Just last Sunday the manager told me "there won't be any unlocked phones." (That's the official party line). I told him the I knew the device only VerIzon one would be. He smiled and said "maybe you know what you're doing."

Believe what you want, but I know what I'm doing.

 

[Rasterico]

Dude, all of my comments pertain to buying "device only" at the Apple Store. And yes the ATT device only phone from the Apple Store was unlocked as well last year.

Right now I'm typing this on my ATT iPhone 5S that I bought the first week of introduction last year at the Apple store. It has NEVER been used on ATT. I have used it on Tmobile, and when on vacation last November I used it on Vodacom in South Africa. It was unlocked out of the box; I did nothing special to unlock it.

I agree with you that you shouldn't purchase at any carrier store. Only buy at the Apple Store. None of the carriers will sell you an unlocked phone no strings attached. Even Verizon will not let you buy their unlocked phone without activating it to a line. But the Apple Store will sell iPhones from all 3 carriers (VZ, TM, & ATT) "device only" no strings attached. Verizon will 100% be unlocked. If this year is like last year then T mobile and ATT will be as well. I'd say that's likely a 99% probability but wouldn't promise it 100% because the carriers could force Apple to change that policy.

And if you ask at the Apple Store they won't promise you anything about any of the phones being unlocked. The carriers don't want phones allocated to them to end up not activated on their service. Just last Sunday the manager told me "there won't be any unlocked phones." (That's the official party line). I told him the I knew the device only VerIzon one would be. He smiled and said "maybe you know what you're doing."

Believe what you want, but I know what I'm doing.

I don't think the carriers can force apple to do anything with their hardware, if anything I'd say that Apple has more control over the carriers than anything because without their product the carriers have nothing! I understand what you say but according to this table: http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ the only one that guarantees support for GSM networks right out of the box is the T-Mobile version and as the person that asked you the question resides in Europe then that's the model they should pick up as we use GSM in Europe and not CDMA.

I spoke with someone at apple technical support and he verified that the T-Mobile version will definitely work in Europe right out of the box so I'm gonna go with that when I travel over in a few weeks.

 

[BruiserB]

Is the T-Mobile iPhone 6 unlocked for pre-order?

I don't think the carriers can force apple to do anything with their hardware, if anything I'd say that Apple has more control over the carriers than anything because without their product the carriers have nothing! I understand what you say but according to this table: http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/ the only one that guarantees support for GSM networks right out of the box is the T-Mobile version and as the person that asked you the question resides in Europe then that's the model they should pick up as we use GSM in Europe and not CDMA.



I spoke with someone at apple technical support and he verified that the T-Mobile version will definitely work in Europe right out of the box so I'm gonna go with that when I travel over in a few weeks.

Look at the chart you told me to look at and tell me what frequencies are missing on the CDMA one that the GSM one has? The answer is none. The CDMA one has every band the GSM one has + CDMA.

The carriers don't control what Apple actually DOES, but they somewhat control what Apple SAYS. That's why Apple did sell VZ, TMobile, and ATT phones as unlocked when bought "device only" last year. But did they tell anyone that? No. They did start advertising the Tmobile phone as unlocked at the preorder last year. Then the word unlocked disappeared from the page last year. People got all scared they would be locked. They weren't. They just stopped advertising them that way. Why?? Rumor has it that Tmobile was ticked off that too many non Tmobile customers bought the phones so there weren't any left for people who actually wanted to newly sign up for Tmobile. You'll notice that the Tmobile phone isn't prominently advertised as unlocked this year. I do think someone posted a web page showing it but it's not the main order page. And that's why Apple won't tell you that any of the phones they sell on Friday are unlocked....they want you to have doubt to discourage you from taking it to another carrier.

Will you be fine if you get the Tmobile one and go to Europe? Yes. (Most likely)

What are you going to do if it's sold out?

My suggestion would be to take either ATT or VZ if it's available.

Will you be fine if you get the ATT one and go to Europe? Yes. (Most likely)

Will you be fine if you get the VZ one and go to Europe? Yes. (Most definitely)

Since most definitely trumps most likely, I'm making VZ my top choice. If it's sold out in the model I want, I'll take either Tmobile or ATT with nearly the same confidence level.

Edit:

http://www.apple.com/iphone-6/specs/

The center of this page contains the full frequency list. The link you had above was the LTE bands only. LTE is LTE....there's not a GSM version and a CDMA version of LTE.

The Tmobile & ATT iPhone supports GSM & LTE

The Verizon iPhone supports CDMA, GSM, & LTE

 

[nampmuj]

I need to get a nano sim from AT&T (my phone currently uses a micro) so I'm waiting for my iPhone to be delivered on the 19th.

I'm thinking when I receive my iPhone to take out the T-Mobile sim then go straight to AT&T and ask for a nano sim for my number without turning on the phone OR should I take out the T-Mobile sim THEN turn on the iPhone follow the step on the phone then go to AT&T or does it not matter?

 

[BruiserB]

I need to get a nano sim from AT&T (my phone currently uses a micro) so I'm waiting for my iPhone to be delivered on the 19th.

I'm thinking when I receive my iPhone to take out the T-Mobile sim then go straight to AT&T and ask for a nano sim for my number without turning on the phone OR should I take out the T-Mobile sim THEN turn on the iPhone follow the step on the phone then go to AT&T or does it not matter?

There will come a point where it needs a SIM to go further in the setup process. You'd be best to go with your first plan to get the new SIM from ATT right away and have them switch your service to it. If you can find someone with a nano SIM cutter (I bet a lot of the phone stores have one....or maybe one of the mall kiosks that aren't directly tied to a carrier), you could just have them chop your current one down as well. Or you might see if you can pick up the new SIM early and then call ATT on Friday to move your service to it. I'd think that would be easier than trying to get anything done in an ATT shop on Friday.

 

[nampmuj]

Thanks BruiserB

I think I'll just go into the AT&T store and ask for a SIM, it's usually not busy even during iPhone releases from experiences in the past.

 

[Sherif Iskander]

Updated info

I picked up the serial number for my iphone 6 off of the support profile. Used sndeep service to check it and this is what I got:



Model: IPHONE 6 SPACE GRAY 64GB TMOBILE-USA
IMEI: 3520XXXXXXXXXX
MEID:
Serial Number: F1XXXXXXXXXXXXX
ICCID:
Bluetooth MAC Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
WiFi MAC Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Activated: false
Next Tether Activation Policy: Multi-Mode Unlock
Original Carrier: Multi-Mode Unlock
Network Unlocked: false

So, it looks like as soon as the phone can dial into Apple, the unlock will happen if I understand this report correctly. Notice, Network Unlocked is showing as false now. I guess once the phone connects back to Apple this will change.

HTH

./sherif

 

[VJ1429]

I ordered t-mobile contract free in apple site

I got the info in apple support profile page.
Can any one tell what does the highlighted sentences says. The phone is unlocked or What

 

[VJ1429]

I picked up the serial number for my iphone 6 off of the support profile. Used sndeep service to check it and this is what I got:



Model: IPHONE 6 SPACE GRAY 64GB TMOBILE-USA
IMEI: 3520XXXXXXXXXX
MEID:
Serial Number: F1XXXXXXXXXXXXX
ICCID:
Bluetooth MAC Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
WiFi MAC Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Activated: false
Next Tether Activation Policy: Multi-Mode Unlock
Original Carrier: Multi-Mode Unlock
Network Unlocked: false

So, it looks like as soon as the phone can dial into Apple, the unlock will happen if I understand this report correctly. Notice, Network Unlocked is showing as false now. I guess once the phone connects back to Apple this will change.

HTH

./sherif

In which site you checked the serial number info

 

[nampmuj]

I picked up the serial number for my iphone 6 off of the support profile. Used sndeep service to check it and this is what I got:

So, it looks like as soon as the phone can dial into Apple, the unlock will happen if I understand this report correctly. Notice, Network Unlocked is showing as false now. I guess once the phone connects back to Apple this will change.

HTH

./sherif

When you mean "dial into Apple" does that mean connect the iPhone via iTunes? If not then how does it connect back to Apple?

 

[BruiserB]

When you mean "dial into Apple" does that mean connect the iPhone via iTunes? If not then how does it connect back to Apple?

It can either connect through your computer and iTunes or directly by using cell data or wifi. Your phone will communicate with Apple servers during setup to see if it was sold with any locking restrictions.

 

[nampmuj]

It can either connect through your computer and iTunes or directly by using cell data or wifi. Your phone will communicate with Apple servers during setup to see if it was sold with any locking restrictions.

Okay thank you

 

[juscik]

Who will have the t-mobile iphone 6 on friday, please, tell us if its unlocked or not. !!!!

 

[efragomez]

where did you bought this iphone ?

I picked up the serial number for my iphone 6 off of the support profile. Used sndeep service to check it and this is what I got:



Model: IPHONE 6 SPACE GRAY 64GB TMOBILE-USA
IMEI: 3520XXXXXXXXXX
MEID:
Serial Number: F1XXXXXXXXXXXXX
ICCID:
Bluetooth MAC Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
WiFi MAC Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Activated: false
Next Tether Activation Policy: Multi-Mode Unlock
Original Carrier: Multi-Mode Unlock
Network Unlocked: false

So, it looks like as soon as the phone can dial into Apple, the unlock will happen if I understand this report correctly. Notice, Network Unlocked is showing as false now. I guess once the phone connects back to Apple this will change.

HTH

./sherif

you bought from t-mobile store or APPLE STORE?

 

[rodgui]

I picked up the serial number for my iphone 6 off of the support profile. Used sndeep service to check it and this is what I got:







Model: IPHONE 6 SPACE GRAY 64GB TMOBILE-USA

IMEI: 3520XXXXXXXXXX

MEID:

Serial Number: F1XXXXXXXXXXXXX

ICCID:

Bluetooth MAC Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

WiFi MAC Address: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Activated: false

Next Tether Activation Policy: Multi-Mode Unlock

Original Carrier: Multi-Mode Unlock

Network Unlocked: false



So, it looks like as soon as the phone can dial into Apple, the unlock will happen if I understand this report correctly. Notice, Network Unlocked is showing as false now. I guess once the phone connects back to Apple this will change.



HTH



./sherif

Which store did you buy? Apple Store or T-Mobile?

 

[rnizlek]

Who will have the t-mobile iphone 6 on friday, please, tell us if its unlocked or not. !!!!

I will have it and will try and remember to post here if I can get it.

I am having UPS hold it at the sorting facility, which opens at 8 AM. I have an 8:19 AM train to catch from a train station a few minute walk from the sorting facility. There is only one train per day to where I am going. I'm hoping that there isn't a line at the sorting facility and they can locate my phone pretty quickly!

If it all works out, I will post an update here and let everyone know. My service is with AT&T.

 

[Sherif Iskander]

Bought from Apple Store

For those asking I purchased the phone online thought the Apple Store.