Carrier New SIM-Free iPhone SE on Sprint

Don't ya just love Sprint? Such a nice consumer friendly carrier

Aren't you sad you left them eyoungren?

 

I don't get what SIM-free means? It sounds like it doesn't take sim cards but that clearly isn't what it means. If I get a non-SIM-free phone for Verizon, will I be able to use it on networks in Spain?

 

Gotta love Sprint.
They always make it extra hard on their poor customers.
I dont get why they stay with them

 

Sounds good thanks eyoungren. Another question...I am moving to Spain in three weeks and eligible for an upgrade with verizon. So I think I will buy phone through verizon for 100 cheaper which is still out of contract and then I can use my phone with any carrier in Spain? Or I still need to be careful which LTE bands work there?

From this page: http://www.apple.com/iphone/LTE/#iphone-se it looks like I can't buy a verizon iPhone SE that works in other countries??

 

It will work, as the FCC requires them to be unlocked. However it will likely be missing some LTE bands so you may not be able to get LTE with them, at least in all areas. Some carriers may work though since there is overlap in the LTE bands, you'd have to research the carrier you want to use or be willing to take the possibility that it will only work on 3G.

--- Post Merged, Mar 21, 2016 ---

That's too bad, Sprint has pretty good prices, and they have the roaming agreement with the little regional carrier that serves the area where my wife's family lives. So for me it is either Sprint or Verizon, I thought I'd heard that Sprint has changed their policy and will unlock phones for you now as long as you don't owe anything on them though, so it may not be too bad.

 

Sprint is a real POS. They're the last carrier I'd go with. I'm more of a T-Mobile or AT&T guy myself.

 

ok it seems like the carriers in Spain use 3,7 and 20 and the verizon version supports lte bands 3 and 20 but not 7. Does anyone know how this will restrict my usage in Spain? Do I need a certain numbers of bands to get best coverage?

 

Ok thanks for the info! Will try to figure out which phone is better for price.

 

I'm holding out hope the Sprint version secretly can do band 13.

 

This is why I left Sprint. Even a pay-as-you-go monthly plan requires a special-enabled Sprint phone. You can't use anything else.

 

There are so many reasons to dislike Sprint.

I honestly don't know why anyone uses them for anything.

 

Sprint's just digging their own grave at this point. Can't justify any of their decisions.

 

In Frequently Asked Questions of the order page:

What does “SIM-free” mean?

“SIM-free” means your iPhone doesn’t ship with a carrier SIM card. The SIM-free iPhone sold on apple.com and at the Apple Store is unlocked. That means you’re free to use a SIM card from a supported carrier. For iPhone SE, supported carriers include AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, among others. iPhone SE does not support Sprint. If you wish to use iPhone SE with Sprint or a Sprint-supported carrier, choose Sprint as your carrier when you purchase iPhone SE. When the Sprint model is purchased at full price, it is unlocked.

 

So, you buy a SIM-free phone from Apple .... where do you get the carrier specific SIM card? Can I pop the AT&T card out of my 5S and put it in the SE? Or do I need to purchase one from ATT?

If I pay for the phone rather than finance it, is there any reason to even consider NOT getting a SIM-free phone?

 

Could someone verify this?
I'd like to buy an iPhone SE (Sprint version, model A1723) with full price from Apple on-line store.
Then I will be using it with Sprint-based MVNO carrier such as Ringplus in USA. I do sometimes hop to T-mobile or AT&T based prepaid carriers. Yet I often travel abroad and I'd like to have the flexibility using it abroad too. So I'd make sure the full price Sprint iPhone SE is naturally unlocked or not.

If it really has to be in Sprint network for 50 days before they could unlock it, does Sprint-based MVNO count? Before it is unlocked by Sprint, could I still use it abroad?

Thanks for the input.

 

I'm shocked that Apple would make the sim-free model available at launch. They've never done this. Usually it's a 3 to 6 month wait.

 

My guess is it'll be like it is/was with T-mobile phones, if you buy it full price from Apple it is unlocked and if you buy it full price from the carrier it is locked, but can be unlocked by the carrier after a specified amount of time.